(By Balaseshan) Spectrum Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:SPPI), a biotechnology company, said its board of directors has approved an increase in its stock repurchase program by $75 million.
The company's board has approved an increase in its stock repurchase program authorizing the buy back of up to a total of $100 million of its common stock. Spectrum was previously authorized to repurchase up to $25 million of its stock.
"We believe repurchases of Spectrum stock represent an attractive opportunity to enhance long-term shareholder value. This program gives us the opportunity to invest in our stock as we need to. We believe that the current share price represents a significant discount to the intrinsic value of the company. We will be starting to purchase stock today," said Rajesh Shrotriya, Chief Executive of Spectrum.
The company said stock will be purchased from time to time, in the open market, through block trades, through 10b5-1 plans, or through privately negotiated transactions in compliance with Securities and Exchange Commission guidelines.
Recently, Spectrum reported a jump in second quarter earnings on a 51.5% jump in revenue. There were about 59.8 million shares of common stock issued and outstanding as of June 30, 2012. Cash, equivalents, investments and receivables as of June 30, 2012 aggregated $279 million, as compared to $253 million as of March 31, 2011.
SPPI closed Thursday's regular session up 2.56% at $12.11. The stock has been trading between $6.94 and $17.48 for the past 52 weeks.