News

Panera announces new share repurchasing program

August 28, 2012

Panera Bread Company's board of directors has approved a new three-year share repurchase program of up to $600 million. The new program will replace the existing program which was scheduled to expire Nov. 16, according to a company press release. The repurchases may start today and may be effected from time to time on the open market or in privately negotiated transactions.

"We continue to look for opportunities to deploy our capital to drive earnings growth and shareholder returns," Bill Moreton, president and co-CEO, said in the release. "Investing in our core business remains our number one priority, and the Board's willingness to extend and refresh the repurchase program is a vote of confidence on the growth potential of Panera and its ability to continue to generate cash flow and deploy that cash to generate appropriate returns for our shareholders."

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