KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 11): Top Glove Corp Bhd has bought back more of its own shares in the open market, while its share price rebounded today following a sharp fall recently.

The world's biggest rubber glove maker announced to the stock exchange that it bought back 13.42 million shares, with prices ranging from RM6.20 to RM8 apiece. The stock, which staged a strong rebound today, hit an intraday high of RM8.03.

The latest share buy-back raised the group's total number of treasury shares to 31.72 million, which is equivalent to a 0.39% stake.

Today's purchase cost Top Glove RM99.9 million. This means the group has spent nearly RM210 million to buy back its own shares over the past three days.

Top Glove's cash balance stood at RM347.8 million as at May 31, while its investment securities amounted to RM1.45 billion. The group's cash pile is expected to have grown substantially given the great demand for rubber gloves and a higher average selling price due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Top Glove shares settled RM1.31 or 20.31% higher at RM7.76 today, after trading volume swelled to 226.35 million — the highest seen since July 2018.

The stock is now down 17.3% from its record high of RM9.38 (after adjusting for bonus issue). Still, it has rallied 395% year to date.