Beneficial Mutual Bancorp Inc. in Philadelphia said Tuesday that it has asked the Office of Thrift Supervision for permission to buy back up to 5% of its stock.
The $3.5 billion-asset Beneficial would need special OTS approval because mutual holding companies are generally prohibited from stock repurchases within the first year of their going public. Beneficial converted from a mutual thrift to a mutual holding company in July, selling 44% of its stock to the public and retaining the rest. It used roughly $183 million of the $236 million it raised to buy FMS Financial Corp. of Burlington, N.J.
Under OTS rules a company can petition the agency for a special waiver to purchase a maximum of 5% of its publicly traded shares in that first year.
"Our board and management believe that the request for approval of the proposed share repurchase program reflects our strong commitment to enhance shareholder value," Beneficial president and chief executive Gerard Cuddy said in a press release.
In late trading Tuesday, Beneficial's shares were up nearly 1.5%, to $9.80.
