Infosys to take shareholders' nod for Rs 9,300-crore share buyback

Infosys will seek shareholders' nod for its proposed Rs 9,300 crore share buyback between November 3 to December 2 through postal ballot, the company said in a regulatory filing.

The Infosys board on October 13 had announced a share buyback of Rs 9,300 crore via the open market route, for a price not exceeding Rs 1,850 per equity share.

"...the Company is required to obtain the approval of its Members for the Buyback by way of a special resolution through Postal Ballot or at a general meeting by providing the facility to Members to vote by electronic means. Accordingly, the Company seeks your approval for the Buyback through this Postal Ballot Notice," the filing said.

The board decided to return approximately 85 per cent of the free cash flow cumulatively over a five-year period through a combination of semi-annual dividends, share buyback, special dividends etc.

"The Company has engaged the services of NSDL for the purpose of providing e-voting facility to all its members. The remote e-voting will commence from Thursday, November 3, 2022 and shall end on Friday, December 2, 2022. The results of the postal ballot will be announced on or before Sunday, December 4, 2022," the filing said.

The buyback is proposed to be implemented by the company by way of open market purchases through Indian stock exchanges.

The company has fixed a cut-off date of October 28 for shareholders who are eligible to participate in the postal ballot process.

Infosys has posted an 11 per cent year-on-year rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 6,021 crore for the September quarter.

The revenue rose 23.4 per cent year-on-year to Rs 36,538 crore in the second quarter of the current fiscal. The same stood at Rs 29,602 crore in the year-ago period.

The IT major has also announced to pay an interim dividend totalling Rs 6,940 crore to the shareholders.

The net profit of India's second largest IT services company stood at Rs 5,421 crore in the same period a year ago.