Wynn’s Tacks 3 Years Onto Stock Buyback

Directors of Wynn’s International Inc. voted Wednesday to extend the company’s stock buyback program for at least three years, through 2001.

The move authorized the Orange-based automotive additives and sealing products company to repurchase as much as $15 million worth of its stock on the open market, beginning in January.

The new program replaces a three-year plan initiated in January 1996. Since then, Wynn’s has repurchased $12.3 million worth of its common stock on the open market. The company also bought back $27 million worth of common stock in a 1997 tender offer.

At Wednesday’s closing price of $22.25 a share--up 13 cents for the day--the new program would enable Wynn’s to repurchase about 678,000 of the 18.8 million shares outstanding.

A stock buyback plan like Wynn’s is generally used to help boost the value of the company’s shares to existing stockholders by increasing the important earnings-per-share measurement that analysts use in evaluating corporate performance.