- The number of own shares on listed companies’ balance sheets falls 5.6% in 2025, although their value jumps 32.7% due to the stock market rally
- Share amortizations drop 22.3% compared to the previous year’s record but remain at historically high levels, totaling 11.937 billion euros
The treasury stock of IBEX 35® companies declined in 2025 for the second consecutive year, reaching five-year lows. This is reflected in the latest report prepared by BME’s Research Department, which confirms the continuation of the dynamic seen in previous years of substantial share buybacks followed by amortizations. It is a formula companies use as a way to reward shareholders, although the capital reduction carried out was less pronounced than in other years.
At the end of last year, IBEX 35® companies held 545 million own shares on their balance sheets, a 5.6% decrease compared to 2024. However, the gains recorded by the Spanish stock market last year, which made it a leader among the main Western exchanges, led the value of treasury stock to soar 32.7% to 9.4 billion euros. The aggregate treasury stock of the 35 companies in the index remained stable at around 0.9% of their market capitalization.
Of the 34 IBEX 35® companies with treasury stock at the end of 2025 (Aena had no own shares on its balance sheet), thirteen increased their level, eight reduced it, and another thirteen did not change it or did so marginally. Naturgy was the company with the highest treasury stock as a percentage of its total market cap, at 4.46%. It was followed by ACS (4.39%), Amadeus (4.35%), IAG (3.43%), and Puig (3.03%).
The main reason for the second consecutive year of decline in treasury stock levels among companies in the Spanish blue-chip index is share buybacks and subsequent amortizations. After the 2024 record, the market value of shares canceled by IBEX 35® companies stood at 11.9 billion euros at the end of last year, a decrease of 22.3%. Even so, it remains at historically high levels.
In 2025 the financial sector maintained its prominence, as listed financial institutions spent nearly 6.1 billion euros on buybacks under programs announced and executed throughout the year (18.2% more than in 2024) and accounted for around 46% of the market capitalization of shares canceled within the IBEX 35®. The oil and energy sector followed, with 3.9 billion euros canceled, 32.9% of the total.
These figures confirm that share amortizations have gained importance in recent years as a way to reward shareholders. Between January 2022 and December 2025, shares worth 54.3 billion euros were canceled on the Spanish stock exchange, far exceeding the volume accumulated in the previous ten years (32 billion).
Buybacks and subsequent amortizations generate shareholder returns in two ways. While the shares are held in treasury, they do not receive dividends, so the amount distributed is spread over a smaller number of shares, thereby increasing the per-share payout for remaining shareholders. If the shares are also canceled, the reduction in the number of shares outstanding can help improve metrics such as earnings per share, provided operating performance supports it.
Even so, cash dividends remain the preferred method for listed companies to remunerate their shareholders. In 2025 they distributed 41.5 billion euros, 10.7% more than in 2024 and the second-highest figure on record.
You can consult the report at this link.