Stock repurchase program at CVS Caremark approved

WOONSOCKET, R.I. CVS Caremark has announced that its board of directors has approved a new share repurchase program for up to $2 billion of its outstanding common stock.

The share repurchase authorization expires at the end of 2011 and permits the company to effect the repurchases from time to time through a combination of open market repurchases, privately negotiated transactions, accelerated share repurchase transactions and/or other derivative transactions.

The company also stated that during second quarter 2010 it repurchased approximately 16.7 million shares of common stock for approximately $613 million, completing the $2 billion repurchase program authorized in November 2009.

Dave Denton, EVP and CFO of CVS Caremark, stated, "We're very pleased with the board's approval of this new share repurchase program and believe it reflects well-placed confidence in the future growth of CVS Caremark's business and an ongoing commitment to increase shareholder value. We're very focused on the efficient allocation of capital and we will continue to invest in internal projects that meet our return hurdles and use the rest of our remaining free cash flow to increase shareholder value."

Denton continued, "Over the next five years, we expect to generate significantly more free cash flow than what we've generated in the past five years, and we expect to use the majority of that free cash flow in the near-term to enhance shareholder returns through dividends and share repurchases. We intend to continue to review our dividend annually and do share repurchases that are value enhancing."