Australian firms cut buybacks despite global surge

Binaya Dahal

Journalist

26 March 2026

Australian-listed companies sharply reduced share buybacks in 2025, while financial and technological firms drove global repurchases to a record level, according to the latest equity report from Capital Group.

The study, which tracked the world’s 1,600 largest companies and their buyback activity since 2015, found Australian buybacks fell 17.5% year-on-year to reach $5.4 billion. By contrast, global buybacks saw 8.4% rise to a record US$1.46 trillion, an increase of US$113 billion compared with 2024.

The report said Australia’s decline was partly driven by banks, with ANZ trimming buybacks earlier in the year before cancelling the programme altogether in October 2025, to prioritise technology spending and the expansion of its mortgage lending business.

It further noted tax incentives for dividends continue to shape the country’s corporate capital allocation as buybacks remain small relative to dividends, amounting to just 12% of payouts in 2025, compared with a global average of 75%.

Globally, financial and technology firms drove much of the surge with banks leading at $176 billion, general financials $142 billion, and insurers $68 billion. Technology sector repurchases rose 18.5% to a record $312 billion, with IT hardware overtaking media as the largest tech buyer.

The report stated that media sector fell by 10% due to companies redirecting cash towards artificial intelligence. Energy firms also reduced repurchases for the third consecutive year as lower energy prices constrained cash flows.

Furthermore, the US continued to dominate global buybacks, accounting for 71% of the total in 2025. However, the fastest growth came from Canada (67.9%), Singapore (62.3%), the Netherlands (53.5%), France (44.4%), and Japan (15.3%).

Capital Group’s Equity Asset Class Lead for Europe and Asia, Katharine Dryer, said the figure suggest buybacks have become prevalent across global equity markets. 

“Share buybacks are no longer a US-centric phenomenon as they reached a record US$1.46 trillion in 2025, with 52% of companies now running repurchase programmes, up from 36% a decade ago,” Dryer said.