Shares of Manchester-based household cleaning products firm McBride plc rose about 4% on Monday after it announced a share buyback programme of up to £12 million of its stock — about 10% of its issued share capital.

McBride’s biggest shareholder is activist hedge fund Teleios Capital Partners with 23.71%. Duke University Management Company (DUMAC) owns 16.80% and Zama Capital Advisors own 10.34%.

McBride CEO Chris Smith said: “We believe that McBride’s current share price does not reflect the value of the underlying business.

“We have resilient revenues, a strong balance sheet and highly visible cash flows.

“We therefore think it is in the interests of all shareholders to commence this programme.”

The company, one of Europe’s largest makers of retailer own brand household goods, unveiled a new strategy in September that targets “annual revenues of €1 billion over the next five years.” 

McBride said on Monday of its share buyback programme: “The programme will run from 2 November 2020 through to the date of the company’s next annual general meeting, expected in October 2021.

“The maximum number of shares that may be repurchased by the company under the programme is 18.3 million …

“The purpose of the share buyback programme is to reduce the share capital of the company (any shares repurchased for this purpose will be cancelled) …”