ASF,The buyback price cannot be at a premium to the 5 day VWAP....

ASF,

The buyback price cannot be at a premium to the 5 day VWAP. Technically a company could use a buyback to push up the price, but it would be slow progress as they need to wait for the VWAP to consolidate upwards from their buying, before they are able in turn to buy at a higher price.

I hope this makes sense.

Demontrader, I would not be surprised if your suggestion of the buyback being used to push the share price upwards (maybe not to 26 cents but perhaps above the 20 cent level) turns out to be correct. Management have on a couple of occasions highlighted that the share price is trading at a discount to the book value (with no growth factored in), and with so much cash on hand they are perhaps feeling vulnerable to a hostile takeover.

Cheers