The board of directors of Wipro on Thursday approved the biggest buyback of Rs 12,000 crore post the announcement of its March quarterly results. The company will buyback 26,96,62,921 shares of face value of Rs 2 each from the shareholders on a proportionate basis through tender at a price of Rs 445 per equity shares. The buyback price is at an 18 per cent premium to Thursday's closing price of Rs 374.35 a share on BSE.
Wipro said that the total amount of share buyback would amount to Rs 12,000 crore and would represent close to 4.91 per cent of the equity shares.
The details of record date, timelines and other details are yet to be communicated. The company also added that the letter of offer will soon be published with the buyback regulations.
Wipro's buyback in 8 year amounts to Rs 45,500 crore
The Bengaluru-based IT firm since 2016 has announced four share buybacks with the total buyback amounting to Rs 45,500 crore in eight years. The company last bought back shares worth Rs 9,500 crore in 2020 and prior to that it bought back 23.75 crore shares for Rs 400 per share. According to the data available at AceEquity, the IT major informed the completion of extinguishment of shares on January 21, 2021.
In 2019, Wipro had bought back shares worth Rs 10,500. During the buyback period the company had offered to purchase 34.37 crore shares for Rs 320 each. This buyback was focused on 7.06 per cent of the total paid-up share capital.
Wipro in 2016 had announced a buy back of Rs 2,500 crore with the purchase of 4 crore shares that it offered to buy back for Rs 625 per share.
Wipro results
Wipro on Thursday posted a 0.4 per cent decline in its consolidated net profit to Rs 3,074.5 crore for the March 2023 quarter and guided for a 1-3 per cent sequential decline in revenue from IT services business in the June quarter amid a weak macro environment. The revenue rose 11.7 per cent year-on-year to Rs 23,190.3 crore.
Wipro CEO and Managing Director Thierry Delaporte talked about softness in the banking, financial services, CPG and retail sectors due to the current macro environment but asserted that there are no radical changes in deal cycles, no reduction in deal sizes or cancellations. The ramp-downs, he said, are restricted to discretionary spending.
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