Glacier continues share buyback

It seems to be business as usual for Glacier Media Inc., despite the recession, as the company announced Wednesday that it will continue to buy back its shares.
Vancouver-based Glacier filed a “Notice of Intention to renew its normal course issuer bid to purchase, subject to regulatory approval, up to 2,500,000 common shares (2.7% of the outstanding common shares and 4.0% of the public float) from time to time during the next 12 months.”
Glacier, which owns scores of newspapers across western Canada, two in Quebec and one daily in Ontario, has so far remained profitable despite the downturn in the economy and bad times in the North American newspaper industry.
According to a press release, “Glacier is monitoring risk levels in the context of the recession and is using free cash flow to maintain debt at manageable levels while evaluating acquisitions, share buy-backs and operating investment opportunities within the context of expected returns and related risk profiles. These investments will only be undertaken if debt and operating levels are deemed prudent within the context of the increased risks entailed in a recessionary environment.”
In the past year Glacier has purchased 413,504 common shares for cancellation at a weighted average price of $2.09 per share.
As of September 14, 2009, there were 92,874,125 common shares issued and outstanding.