Wrong, there are other reasons BB isn't always optimal:1)...

Wrong, there are other reasons BB isn't always optimal:

1) buybacks are not optimal for current shareholders like dividends are, as they also benefit all option holders and may even trigger the vesting conditions as the price goes higher. So you can increase dilution instead of reducing it. many bb in Australia are used for this ulterior purpose, to make execs lti and sti worth more.

2) the benefit of the buyback is also still capital at risk, in that you've spent money to cancel shares on the basis of concentrating the value of those remaining shares but they are still 100% at risk to everything - regulation changes, commodity price changes, executive decisions, management competence etc. royalty changes could burn the bb money if you buy at $10 and then price halves due to royalty rate change.

So when cash is raining in you should arguably pay out dividends ASAP, to protect that capital from risk and allow existing shareholders to reduce their capital at risk or reinvest or diversify.

I've lived through crashes by being free carry before big drops ... so i love big dividends or synthetic dividends by taking big profits.