The board of directors of Bermudian-based Triton International Limited, the world’s largest lessor of intermodal freight containers, has approved an increase in the size of the company’s existing share repurchase authorisation to $400 million.

Brian M. Sondey, Triton’s chief executive officer, said: “Triton’s share repurchases have been an important driver of shareholder value this year. Year to date, we have purchased almost 8.5 million shares for $514 million, reducing our share count by approximately 13 per cent.

“Our board of directors has typically authorised up to $200 million of repurchases, but given our pace of repurchases this year, this has resulted in several quarterly reauthorisations.

“The increased authorisation will provide enhanced flexibility to execute our programme, and it also reflects the strength of our balance sheet, robust cashflows and our continued confidence that Triton’s financial performance will remain strong.”

Triton said it expects to continue to rely primarily on cash generated from operations to fund its share repurchases.

It added that the timing and amount of share repurchases and the number of shares to be repurchased will depend upon market conditions and other factors.