Whilst in principle buybacks are only a different form of...

Whilst in principle buybacks are only a different form of capital return- in this specific situation it is very useful.
1) low P/B ratio- buying close to asset prices (and have to remember this is after impairment of goodwill)
2) actually reduces cash outflow when it comes to dividend payments. For every 20m shares bought back that is a $200K less that doesn’t have to be paid back for every 1c dividend.
On basis of current buyback at 2c pa dividend and 6m bought back already that is already that is 120K extra cash that can be distributed to shareholders. This doesn’t seem like much but it does compound over time.