MANILA, Philippines - Conglomerate Ayala Corp. is doubling its share buyback program to P5 billion from P2.5 billion.

In a disclosure to the stock exchange on Wednesday, the company said its executive committe has approved the expansion of its share repurchase plan since the company has nearly used the P2.5 billion budget set for the share buyback in 2007.

"As of yesterday, we have bought back 7.5 million of our common shares at an average cost of P322 per share for a total cost of P2.49 billion," the company said.

Share price of Ayala yesterday closed unchanged at P320 a piece.

A share repurchase program allows a listed a company to buy back its own shares from the market, this reduces its  number of outstanding shares.

A buyback program is usually resorted to when the company's management deem their shares are curently undervalued. Buying back shares is also intended to boost investor confidence in a company. It is also a means to shield a company against  a possible hostile takeover.