(Reuters) – Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com said on Tuesday its board of directors has approved a $5 billion share buyback program that will start in September and allow the company to buy back its own shares over the next 36 months.
The company's U.S.-listed shares rose 5.1% in premarket trading.
JD.com, which last week beat quarterly profit forecasts, and rivals such as Alibaba have sought to ease investor concerns about China's struggling retail market through large-scale share buybacks.
This marks JD.com's second share buyback announcement this year, after announcing a $3 billion share buyback in March. Alibaba announced a $25 billion share buyback in February.
JD.Com is regularly running discounts and promotions as Chinese consumers cut back on spending in the face of a macroeconomic slowdown, prolonged slumps in property prices and job uncertainty.
All major Chinese e-commerce retailers are in fierce competition to gain market share in the world's largest e-commerce market.
News on Monday that rival PDD Holdings, which runs discount retailer Pinduoduo in China and Tem internationally, missed earnings forecasts and warned of uncertainty wiped $55 billion from the company's market capitalization.
Shares of US-listed companies JD.com and Alibaba were also dragged down.
Earlier this month, retail giant Walmart sold its entire stake in JD.com, worth roughly $3.7 billion, ending its eight-year investment in the company to focus on its own China business, a move that also raises questions about how well positioned JD.com is to succeed in the current environment.
(Reporting by Deborah Sophia in Bengaluru and Casey Hall in Shanghai; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar and Sharon Singleton)
