Itaú Unibanco Holding SA said it repurchased 12,960,000 preferred shares in May at an average price of 35.51 Brazilian reais per share, resulting in a total cost of about 460.2 million reais.

In April, the bank repurchased 7,461,800 preferred shares at an average price of 38.08 reais per share. Itaú has now bought back 28,397,900 preferred shares so far in 2017 at an average price of 36.26 reais per share, according to a June 5 press release.

The bank's board recently approved a program to repurchase up to 10.0 million common shares and 50.0 million preferred shares through Nov. 26, 2018.

As of June 5, US$1 was equivalent to 3.27 Brazilian reais.