Ion Geophysical Corp. (NYSE:IO) Gained at the Start of the Stock Repurchase Program

[[tagnumber 0]]Shares of Ion Geophysical Corp. (NYSE:IO) closed the last trading session with a moderate gain. Yesterday was the day on which the recently announced by the management stock repurchase program should begin, yet there were no such indications on the market except for the moderate increase in the share price.[[tagnumber 1]] [[tagnumber 2]][[tagnumber 3]][[tagnumber 1]] [[tagnumber 2]]IO closed at $0.36 for a share which is a 3.30% appreciation from the previous close. The trading volume was below the average for the stock though technical indicators took a bullish stance for today, giving thus slight signals for further increase in the next days.[[tagnumber 1]] [[tagnumber 2]]In the beginning of the month, the company announced that its Board of Directors had approved a stock repurchase program. According to the statement, the purchases will be made at management discretion and either in open market transactions or through privately negotiated transactions. The program should end in two years and the total amount of stock value to be bought is limited to $25 million.[[tagnumber 1]] [[tagnumber 2]]That could be a good signal to investors, if [[tagnumber 10]]it were not the current crisis on the oil and gas market on which IO business had to shrink massively. In its latest quarter report for the third quarter, it is seen that the company is restructuring its operations, meaning it has cut around 50% of its workforce and has put to minimum the planned capital expenditures for its current projects under development.[[tagnumber 1]] [[tagnumber 2]]Management claims that with the available cash on hand and the credit facility it will manage to cover the operations over the next 12 years, however, it is not clear how it plans to finance the stock repurchase program. IO liquidity ratios are weakening progressively this year while the gross profit dropped to 17% in the third quarter.[[tagnumber 1]] [[tagnumber 0]] [[tagnumber 1]]