Wipro is planning to consider buying back shares, its second such programme in two years. During the first programme, completed in April last year, the company bought four crore equity shares at Rs 625 per piece, aggregating Rs 2,500 crore. Details of the second programme are likely to emerge when the company's board meets next week to consider first quarter results.
"Wipro Ltd...Board will consider a proposal for buyback of equity shares of the company on July 20, 2017," news agency PTI quoted the company as saying in a regulatory filing. The company's cash and cash equivalents amounted to Rs 5,271 crore as of March 31 2017, according to the agency.
The June quarter results will also be announced the same day.
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Earlier, TCS had completed share buyback worth Rs 16,000 crore while HCL Technologies announced a similar programme two months ago. The programme entailed HCL Technologies buying back 3.50 crore shares at Rs 1,000 per share and constituting about 2.48 percent of the company's paid-up capital as of March 31, 2017.
Wipro's bigger rival Infosys had also earmarked up to Rs 13,000 crore for payout to shareholders either in the form of dividend or share buyback during the current fiscal, according to PTI.
Earlier, while announcing Q4, FY2017 results, Wipro had announced a bonus issue in the ratio of 1:1 after a gap of seven years, though the company skipped final dividend for the financial year. It had also hinted at a share buyback programme while declaring the financial performance.
"The Board of Directors will consider a proposal for buyback of equity shares of the Company around July 2017," the company said in a regulatory filing to the BSE on April 25 2017.
