US media groups buy back shares

Large cash piles at big US media companies have led to a wave of buy-backs that have returned more than $14 billion to shareholders this year.

Led by television groups including Time Warner, Time Warner Cable and Disney, media companies have executed the third-most buy-backs of the 67 company groups it tracks, according to Birinyi Associates. Overall, US companies are buying back their stock at the fastest pace since 2007. The repurchase programmes come as media companies are flush with cash but reluctant to invest internally after years of capital expenditures and also wary of a weak mergers and acquisitions market.