At what price were the shares redeemed relative to the volume-weighted average price and the daily high/low, and does that reflect a discount or premium?
Answer
The press‑release you quoted tells us that CRH plc redeemed (i.e., bought back) a block of its own ordinary shares on 4 August 2025 through its broker BNP Paribas Securities Corp. It also lists the following data fields that are normally supplied in a “share‑redemption” announcement:
| Data field (normally reported) | What it means |
|---|---|
| Aggregate number of ordinary shares acquired | Total shares that were bought back and will be cancelled. |
| Daily volume‑weighted average price (VWAP) paid | The average price at which the shares were actually purchased, weighted by the volume of each trade during the day. |
| Daily highest price paid per share | The maximum price at which any of the redeemed shares were bought. |
| Daily lowest price paid per share | The minimum price at which any of the redeemed shares were bought. |
1. What the news does not give us
In the excerpt you posted, the actual numeric values for those three price points (VWAP, high and low) are omitted. The sentence stops after “…Daily lowest price paid per shar” and the numbers are not shown. Because the redemption price itself is also not listed, we cannot directly answer:
- At what price were the shares redeemed?
- Was that price above (premium) or below (discount) the VWAP, daily high, or daily low?
2. How to determine the relationship once the numbers are available
If the missing numbers were supplied, the analysis would be straightforward:
| Scenario | Interpretation |
|---|---|
| Redemption price > VWAP | The company paid a premium to the market average price on that day. It suggests the buy‑back was more aggressive (e.g., to signal confidence, to support the share price, or to acquire shares that were otherwise hard to obtain). |
| Redemption price = VWAP | The company paid exactly the market‑average price—neither a discount nor a premium. |
| Redemption price < VWAP | The company paid a discount to the market average price. This can be attractive to the company (cheaper capital) but may raise questions about whether the market perceived the price as low enough to warrant a discount. |
The same logic applies when you compare the redemption price to the daily high and daily low:
- Above the daily high – impossible in a normal market‑order context; it would mean the company paid more than any other participant paid that day (a clear premium).
- Between the daily low and high – the price sits somewhere within the day’s price range; you can still assess premium/discount relative to VWAP.
- At the daily low – the company captured the cheapest price available that day (a discount relative to the high, but possibly equal to the low).
3. What you can do next
- Locate the full press release – The original Business Wire announcement (dated 5 August 2025, 09:11 UTC) will contain the missing figures. Look for a table or bullet list that reads something like:
Aggregate number of ordinary shares acquired: 1,200,000
Daily volume‑weighted average price paid: $31.45 per share
Daily highest price paid per share: $32.10
Daily lowest price paid per share: $30.80
- Calculate the premium/discount:
- Premium/discount vs. VWAP = (Redemption price – VWAP) / VWAP × 100 %
- Premium/discount vs. daily high = (Redemption price – Daily high) / Daily high × 100 %
- Premium/discount vs. daily low = (Redemption price – Daily low) / Daily low × 100 %
Positive percentages indicate a premium; negative percentages indicate a discount.
- Contextualise the result:
- A modest premium (e.g., 1‑3 %) is common for buy‑backs that aim to support the share price.
- A large premium (e.g., > 5 %) may signal a strategic move (e.g., to consolidate ownership, to fend off a takeover, or to signal strong confidence).
- A discount can be attractive from a capital‑efficiency standpoint but may raise questions about why the market price was perceived as “high” relative to the company’s valuation.
- A modest premium (e.g., 1‑3 %) is common for buy‑backs that aim to support the share price.
4. Bottom‑line answer (given the current information)
Because the specific redemption price, VWAP, daily high, and daily low are not included in the excerpt you provided, we cannot determine whether the shares were redeemed at a discount or a premium.
To complete the analysis, you’ll need the exact price figures from the full CR H plc announcement. Once those numbers are obtained, apply the simple calculations outlined above to see how the redemption price compares to the market‑average (VWAP) and the day’s price range, and thereby assess whether CR H paid a discount or a premium.