Samsung announces $10 billion share buyback

Samsung Electronics announced on Thursday a plan to buy back shares worth $10 billion, following growing calls by investors to boost shareholder value.

The firm's board approved the first round of buybacks worth 4.2 trillion won for the three months beginning October 30, the South Korean electronics giant said in a statement.

"Samsung believes that the current share price and the market value... are severely undervalued both in terms of the ability to generate earnings and also in terms of the underlying asset or equity value of the company," it said.