Share buybacks by South Korean listed companies soared this year leading to a boost in share prices, data showed Monday.

A total of 91 firms listed on the local stock market have bought back shares worth 9.22 trillion won ($7.88 billion) this year as of last Thursday, up from 1.82 trillion won a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Korea Exchange.

Of the companies listed on the main KOSPI market, 42 companies bought back a combined 9.18 trillion won, while 49 players on the tech-laden KOSDAQ market bought their shares worth 201.9 billion won, according to the data.

SK Corp., the de-facto holding company of energy and telecom giant SK Group, repurchased the largest amount of shares at 899.6 billion won, followed by global chipmaker SK Hynix Inc. with 770.5 billion won and tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. with 590.3 billion won, according to the data.

The buyback resulted in a rise in their stock prices, according to the KRX.

Share prices of the companies that repurchased stocks enjoyed an average 10.92 percent rise after the stock buybacks. The KOSDAQ companies that bought back shares racked up a 6.54 percent boost in stock prices, the data showed.

Listed firms often buy back shares when their stocks are deemed undervalued or in a bid to shield against a hostile takeover. (Yonhap)