Infosys
Reuters

Share price of Bangalore-based Information Technology (IT) major hit three year low at Rs 882.55, down 4.3 percent, despite the announcement of Rs 13,000 crore buyback by the board on Saturday.

The stock is reeling under pressure after Vishal Sikka stepped down from the position of CEO and MD of Infosys. The stock, which tanked 9.6% at Friday's closing, witnessed the sharpest fall since April 2013.

Infosys board approved to buy back shares worth up to Rs 13,000 crore at Rs 1,150 a piece, at a steep premium of 24.5 percent to Friday's closing price of Rs 923.10. That represents 4.92 percent of its total outstanding equity. 

Mint quoted an Edelweiss Securities note, published in August 17, which said Infosys buybacks are not a reflection of maturing growth or lack of confidence in business, instead it is a more efficient method of distributing cash as it has posted relatively better numbers than peers in past few quarters.

Also read: Vishal Sikka resigns as CEO and MD of Infosys over continued 'personal attacks'

Infosys being a cash rich company has left with a substantial amount of liquidity even after this buyback program. The company still has around Rs 26,000 crore as the cash reserves, as it had around Rs. 39,335 crore at the end of June 2017.

The operating cash flow as percentage of net profit remained over 100% for the 4th quarter in a row. The yield on cash for the quarter was 7.07%, Business Standard reported.

G Chokkalingam, founder and managing director of investment advisory firm, Equinomics Research and Advisory said that stock has already witnessed the headwinds triggered by Sikka's exit, went down as much as 14.5% from its 52-week high in October 2015.

"The stock has already witnessed a severe under-performance. The stock trades at 14.7 x FY2017 earnings," he added. 

On Sikka's stepping down as the CEO, investors went on a selling spree on Friday, which eroded Infosys's market value as much Rs 22,000 crore.

In the first quarter of financial year 2018, the company's consolidated net profit was 3.3 percent lower, on a sequential basis, the IT firm's registered a drop of 0.2 percent to Rs 17,078 crore in its revenue.

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