TORONTO , Jan. 2, 2026 /CNW/ - (TSX: EQB) – EQB Inc. (the "Company") announced today that it has received approval from the Toronto Stock Exchange (the "TSX") to renew its Normal Course Issuer Bid (the "NCIB") for an additional 12-month period.

The renewed NCIB will commence on January 6, 2026, and will expire on January 5, 2027, or on such earlier date as the NCIB is complete.

Pursuant to the terms of the NCIB, the Company may purchase for cancellation up to 2,215,794 common shares, representing approximately 10% of the public float of such shares as of December 23, 2025.

Subject to the TSX's block purchase exception, on any trading day purchases under the NCIB will not exceed 31,372 common shares, based on an average daily trading volume of the common shares from June 1, 2025, to November 30, 2025, of 125,488 common shares (rounding down and determined in accordance with TSX polices).

All purchases under the renewed NCIB will be made through the facilities of the TSX, and/or through alternative Canadian trading systems, in accordance with its rules and applicable Canadian securities laws. All shares acquired under the NCIB will be cancelled.

In connection with the renewal of the NCIB, the Company has also received TSX approval to establish an Automatic Securities Purchase Plan (the "ASPP") with its designated broker. The ASPP is intended to allow for the repurchase of common shares under the NCIB during blackout periods or otherwise restricted trading periods, subject to the terms and limits of the plan and applicable securities laws.

The Board of Directors has authorized the renewal of the NCIB because it believes that, from time to time, the market price of the Company's common shares does not fully reflect their intrinsic value. Repurchasing shares is viewed as an efficient use of capital and aligned with EQB's broader capital management strategy.

Under its existing NCIB, the Company repurchased 1,424,863 common shares through the facilities of the TSX and alternative Canadian trading systems at a weighted-average price of approximately $94.3742 per common share for total cash consideration of approximately $134,481,704 (including commission). Under the previous NCIB, a total of up to 2,300,000 common shares were available for repurchase.

As of December 23, 2025, the Company had 37,293,085 common shares issued and outstanding. The public float was 22,157,942, calculated in accordance with the rules of the TSX.

About EQB
EQB Inc. (TSX: EQB) is a leading digital financial services company with $138 billion in combined assets under management and administration (as at October 31, 2025). It offers banking services through Equitable Bank, a wholly owned subsidiary and Canada's seventh largest bank by assets, and wealth management through ACM Advisors, a majority owned subsidiary specializing in alternative assets. As Canada's Challenger Bank™, Equitable Bank has a clear mission to drive change in Canadian banking to enrich people's lives. It leverages technology to deliver exceptional personal and commercial banking experiences and services to nearly 780,000 customers and more than six million credit union members through its businesses. Through its digital EQ Bank platform (eqbank.ca), its customers have named it one of Canada's top banks on the Forbes World's Best Banks list since 2021.

Please visit eqb.investorroom.com for more details or connect with us on LinkedIn.

Investor contact:
Lemar Persaud
VP and Head of IR
investor_enquiry@eqb.com

Media contact:
Maggie Hall
Director, PR & Communications
maggie.hall@eqb.com

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Statements made in the sections of this news release, in other filings with Canadian securities regulators and in other communications include forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws ("forward-looking statements"). These statements include, but are not limited to, statements about the Company's objectives, strategies and initiatives, financial performance expectations and other statements made herein, whether with respect to the Company's businesses or the Canadian economy. Generally, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward- looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "planned", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases which state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved", or other similar expressions of future or conditional verbs. Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, closing of transactions, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to risks related to capital markets and additional funding requirements, business integration risks, fluctuating interest rates and general economic conditions, legislative and regulatory developments, changes in accounting standards, competition, the nature of our customers and rates of default, the number of common shares ultimately available to be purchased pursuant to the NCIB as well as those factors discussed under the heading "Risk Management" in the MD&A and in the Company's documents filed on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.

Forward-looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to: the commencement of the NCIB by the Company; the number of shares ultimately available to be purchased by the Company pursuant to the NCIB and the purchase price of such shares; and the Company's entrance into the NCIB and ASPP. Such forward-looking statements are based on a number of material factors and assumptions, including, but not limited to: that the Company will purchase shares pursuant to the NCIB; assumptions in respect of the price of the Company's common shares; and general economic conditions.

All material assumptions used in making forward-looking statements are based on management's knowledge of current business conditions and expectations of future business conditions and trends, including their knowledge of the current credit, interest rate and liquidity conditions affecting the Company and the Canadian economy. Although the Company believes the assumptions used to make such statements are reasonable at this time and has attempted to identify in its continuous disclosure documents important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Certain material assumptions are applied by the Company in making forward-looking statements, including without limitation, assumptions regarding its continued ability to fund its mortgage business, a continuation of the current level of economic uncertainty that affects real estate market conditions, continued acceptance of its products in the marketplace, as well as no material changes in its operating cost structure and the current tax regime. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that are contained herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/eqb-announces-renewal-of-normal-course-issuer-bid-and-approval-of-automatic-securities-purchase-plan-302651734.html

SOURCE EQB Inc.