SEOUL, Nov 15 Reuters Samsung Electronics has decided to buy back shares worth 10 trillion won 7.17 billion over a oneyear period to boost shareholder value, after shares plunged to more than fouryear lows earlier in the week.

It is the first time Samsung Electronics has decided to buy back shares since 2017.

Of the total, three trillion won worth of shares, or 50.14 million common shares and 6.91 million preferred shares, will be repurchased in the next three months and cancelled, Samsung said after the market closed on Friday.

The board of directors will decide on ways to enhance shareholder value, including when and how to use the remaining seven trillion in the repurchase programme, it said in a statement.

In the short term, the decision would likely help Samsungs share performance, but the company needs concrete business plans to better support its share performance, analysts said.

The worlds top memory chip maker last month apologised for a disappointing quarterly profit, as it lagged rivals in supplying artificial intelligence chips to Nvidia. Samsung was the worst performing stock among major global chipmakers, also hurt by Presidentelect Donald Trumps threat to levy tariffs on imports that would hit demand for electronics products.

It is a reflection that Samsung feels a sense of crisis due to the sharp stock drops, said Park Jugun, head of corporate analysis firm Leaders Index.

Park said the share buyback may intend to bolster depressed stock prices for…