Sampo commences repurchase of its own A shares

Sampo plc's Annual General Meeting on 14 April 2011 granted Sampo plc's Board of Directors authorization to repurchase Sampo's A shares with distributable capital and reserves. Maximum amount to be repurchased is 50,000,000 A shares.

The Board has today decided to repurchase Sampo A shares. The maximum amount that can be repurchased is 10,000,000 shares corresponding to approximately 1.8 per cent of the total number of shares. Repurchases shall decrease the distributable capital and reserves.

The shares shall be acquired through public trading on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki at market price prevailing at the time of repurchase. Weighty financial reasons for repurchases exist as they are carried out in order to follow the company's distribution policy.

Share repurchases shall start on 24 August 2011 at the earliest and end by 31 December 2011.

SAMPO PLC

Jarmo Salonen
Head of Investor Relations and Group Communications
phone +358 10 516 0030

Distribution:
NASDAQ OMX Helsinki
The principal media
Financial Supervisory Authority
www.sampo.com