Infosys to buy shares at 25% premium to current price; approves Rs 9,200 crore buyback plan

Software services behemoth Infosys today said that its board has approved a Rs 9,200 crore buyback of equity shares from the open market. The company will buy back shares at a maximum Rs 1,750 apiece, a premium of 25% on the current market price of Rs 1,398 apiece. The buyback announcement came along with the financial results of the company where it reported a jump in net profit to Rs 5,076 crore in the January-March quarter, up from Rs 4,321 crore in the same period last year.

The approved buyback plan of Rs 9,200 crore is less than 15% of the aggregate of the total paid-up share capital. Upon completion of the buyback at the maximum price, Infosys will buy back 5,25,71,428 equity shares.

This is the third buyback announced by Infosys in a space of five years. Earlier in December 2017, the company completed a buyback of 11.3 crore equity shares at a price of Rs 1,150 per share for Rs 13,000 crore. In August 2019, Infosys bought back 11.05 crore shares for an average Rs 757.38 per equity share under its Rs 8,260 crore buyback offer. So far this year Tata Consultancy Services and Wipro have completed their share buybacks.

Revenue of the company stood at Rs 26,311 crore at the end of the January-March quarter, up from Rs 23,267 crore recorded in the same period last year. However, this is shy of Bloomberg estimates. EBIT margin of the company stood at 24.5%. Infosys said it has added 130 clients during the period under review, taking its total client list to 1,626.

Also Read: Infosys declares Rs 15 per share final dividend; Q4 results meet estimates, net profit up 17% on-yr

“We have crossed a milestone of Rs 1 lakh crore in revenue in FY21. Our intense focus on client relevance, growing our digital portfolio with differentiated capabilities like Infosys CobaltTM, and empowering employees have helped us emerge as a preferred ‘partner-of-choice’ for our global clients. Our record large deal wins stand testimony to the effectiveness of this approach,” said Salil Parekh, CEO and MD.

For FY22 the EBIT margin guidance is at 22-24%, while revenue growth guidance of 12%-14% in constant currency has been announced. Operating margin guidance of 22%-24% for the current fiscal was provided by Infosys.