The "STAR Market Daily" reported on November 29th (Reporter Yu Jiaxin) that there are large repurchase orders in the STAR Market.

On November 29th, Attes announced a plan to repurchase shares ranging from 0.5 billion yuan to 1 billion yuan, with a repurchase price not exceeding 21.42 yuan per share. The repurchased shares will be used entirely for cancellation and reduction of the company's registered capital.

The number of shares repurchased this time ranges from 23.3427 million shares to 46.6853 million shares, representing 0.63% to 1.27% of the total share capital.

The announcement indicates that the source of funds for this share buyback is the company's own/capital-raising funds/over-raised funds obtained from the initial public offering of Renminbi ordinary shares/special loan funds.

It is worth mentioning that Attes stated that in response to and to make good use of the policy tools supporting share buybacks from relevant regulatory authorities, the company plans to sign a "Share Repurchase and Increase Loan Contract" with the Bank of China Suzhou New District Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone Branch, and obtain a special share repurchase loan of up to RMB 0.4 billion. The loan has a term of 12 months and is specifically used for the company's share repurchases in the A-share market.

As of September 30, 2024, Attes' total assets were RMB 66.826 billion, with net assets attributable to shareholders of the listed company at RMB 22.722 billion and current assets at RMB 38.102 billion. Based on the estimated upper limit of the repurchase funds of 1 billion yuan, they account for 1.50%, 4.40%, and 2.62% of the above indicators respectively.

With a series of favorable policies gradually implemented, recently the number of share buybacks by STAR Market companies has reached a new high.

Since October 18, the People's Bank of China, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, and the China Securities Regulatory Commission issued the "Notice on Matters Concerning the Establishment of Share Repurchase and Shareholding Rediscount Loans", and some of the repurchase funds of companies such as Weidao Nano, Suzhou Hyc Technology, and Xiangyu Medical come from special repurchase and shareholding loans.

From the currently disclosed announcements of repurchase by Star Market companies, Ats ranks top in both the amount of repurchase and the amount of special repurchase loans.

In terms of the purpose of the repurchase, for Ats's "cancellation-type" repurchase this time, industry analysts believe that "cancellation repurchases are often considered a market stabilization behavior, can increase earnings per share, and earnings per share is one of the pricing foundations for stock prices, such repurchases are beneficial for boosting the company's stock price and ordinary investors."

However, it should be noted that in terms of risk warnings, Ats stated that the repurchased shares this time will be canceled in accordance with the law and the registered capital will be reduced, which may pose the risk of creditors requiring the company to repay debts in advance or provide corresponding guarantees.

On the same day (November 29), Ats announced the first granting of restricted stock under the 2024 Restricted Stock Incentive Plan to incentive recipients, with November 28, 2024 being the first grant date, granting 54.004 million shares of Class 2 restricted stock to 725 eligible incentive recipients, accounting for approximately 1.46% of the company's total share capital and about 80.00% of the total number of restricted stocks planned to be granted under this incentive plan.

Ats stated that the incentive costs generated by implementing this incentive plan will have an impact on the company's operating performance in various periods, with the specific amortization costs for 2024, 2025, and 2026 being 23.0857 million yuan, 0.265 billion yuan, and 1.21 billion yuan, respectively.