- The number of treasury shares on the balance sheets of Spanish blue-chip companies decreases by 34% in 2024, but their market value rises by 8.9% due to stock market revaluation
- Major listed companies increase share buybacks to 15.359 billion euros in 2024, the highest annual figure in history
The treasury stock of IBEX 35® companies, that is, the number of own shares on the balance sheets of listed companies, decreased by 34% at the end of 2024 to 579 million shares. This is the lowest figure in five years and is mainly due to the record-high growth in share buybacks, which companies increasingly use as a method of shareholder remuneration and to adjust their financial structure. These are two of the conclusions from the latest report by the BME Research Department, published today.
Although the total number of treasury shares held by major listed companies has fallen, their market value has increased by 8.9%, due to the revaluation of the IBEX 35®. The total value of the treasury stock of these companies amounts to 7.2 billion euros, representing almost 1% of the total market capitalization of the index, based on data as of the end of last year.
ArcelorMittal, with 9.8% of its capital in treasury shares; ACS, with 6.2%; and Amadeus, with 3.1%, are the companies with the largest treasury stock.
The main reason for the average decline in treasury stock among IBEX 35® companies is the steady growth in share buybacks. Last year, the value of shares repurchased by major listed companies reached 15.3 billion euros, a historic high and 20.4% more than in 2023. Banks were the main drivers of this trend, allocating 5.4 billion euros to repurchase their own shares under programmes announced in 2024, 25% more than the previous year.
The use of share buybacks as a method of shareholder remuneration, historically widespread in the United States, has grown significantly in recent years on the Spanish stock market, especially since 2021. Between January 2022 and June 2025, shares worth nearly 47.3 billion euros were repurchased on the Spanish stock market, compared to approximately 32 billion euros in the previous 10 years.
Nevertheless, the preferred method of shareholder remuneration for listed companies remains dividend distribution. In the first half of 2025, dividends amounted to 21.2 billion euros, an 8.9% increase compared to the same period the previous year.
You can consult the report at this linkopens in a new tab (only in Spanish).
