Management have spoken of returning capital to shareholders,...

Management have spoken of returning capital to shareholders, buybacks were one of the mechanisms and it would be a great choice considering how cheap the equity is trading for and the lack of franking credits for dividends. The buyback is in place, yet to be utilised. I have no idea why they are not buying back shares. If not now, when ever?

I have a large holding here, around 2% of the register and have been a shareholder since 2016 continuously. The BoD have done a solid job with moving the business forward in scale and profitability but could do a lot better with moving the share price to what would be considered a fairer valuation i think. Shares are trading for less than they were 3 years ago, there's excess capital on the balance sheet and the biz is swimming in generated free cash. What gives? If the BoD don't think the equity of the biz is worth investing in through a buyback at these prices it's hardly any wonder the market won't move it forward. Mining services generally are trading well as reflected in their share prices. MSV far less so.

If they don't start buying meaningful amounts of shares back after the Full Year announcement in a few weeks, I would be inclined to move my capital elsewhere.......3-5 years without capital appreciation has tested my patience. I imagine it should for most shareholders. Bring on the buyback.....and meaningfully. 75,000 shares a day would equate to 10% of the Register over the forward year. That should exceed the ROIC the business is generating. There's no point expanding the business further at this time when the better investment is in buying its own shares and cancelling them.