Toho Gas Co. said Wednesday the company will purchase about 1.6 percent of its outstanding shares and cancel them to help push up its stock price.
The purchase is planned to be carried out sometime between today and a Toho Gas shareholders' meeting in June.
It will be the first stock buyback for cancellation by Toho Gas, a city gas provider for the Nagoya metropolitan area.
Toho Gas will buy up to 10 million of its approximately 620 million outstanding shares. The maximum total purchase value is set at 2.5 billion yen.
Toho Gas changed its charter at a June 1998 shareholders' meeting to enable it to buy up to 60 million of its own shares for cancellation on condition the plan is endorsed by its directors.