QUEBEC CITY, Jan. 8, 2019 /PRNewswire/ - EXFO Inc.
(NASDAQ: EXFO) (TSX: EXF) announced today that its Board of
Directors has authorized a share repurchase program, by way of a
normal course issuer bid ("NCIB") on the open market, of up to
approximately 6.3% (1,200,000 subordinate voting shares) of
the public float of 19,051,611 subordinate voting shares (as
defined by the Toronto Stock Exchange ("TSX")), as of December 31, 2018. On December 31, 2018,
EXFO had 23,659,043 subordinate voting shares outstanding. EXFO has
not repurchased any of its subordinate voting shares within the
last twelve months.
The TSX has accepted a notice filed by EXFO of its intention to
proceed with a NCIB. EXFO may use cash, short-term investments and
future cash flows from operations to fund the repurchase of shares.
Repurchases under the bid will be made on the open market, through
the facilities of the TSX and NASDAQ or via alternative trading
systems, at the prevailing market price. The timing of such
repurchases, if any, will depend on price, market conditions and
applicable regulatory requirements.
The NCIB will become effective on January
14, 2019 and end on January 13,
2020 or on an earlier date if EXFO repurchases the maximum
number of shares permitted. The average daily trading volume (ADTV)
of EXFO's subordinate voting shares was 14,635, on the TSX and
38,334 on the NASDAQ for the most recently completed six
calendar months. Accordingly, EXFO is entitled to repurchase up to
25% of the ADTV on any trading day (being 3,658 subordinate
voting shares on the TSX and 9,583 subordinate voting shares on the
NASDAQ) or pursuant to the applicable rules of the TSX. The program
does not require the company to repurchase a minimum number of
shares and it may be modified, suspended or terminated at any time
without prior notice. All shares acquired by EXFO under the bid
will be cancelled.
EXFO believes that the repurchase of some of its subordinate
voting shares is an appropriate and desirable use of its available
cash. Consequently, EXFO believes that the offer is made in the
best interests of the company and its shareholders.
About EXFO
EXFO (NASDAQ: EXFO) (TSX: EXF)
develops smarter test, monitoring and analytics solutions for fixed
and mobile network operators, webscale companies and equipment
manufacturers in the global communications industry. Our customers
count on us to deliver superior network performance, service
reliability and subscriber insights. They count on our unique blend
of equipment, software and services to accelerate digital
transformations related to fiber, 4G/LTE and 5G deployments. They
count on our expertise with automation, real-time troubleshooting
and big data analytics, which are critical to their business
performance. We've spent over 30 years earning this trust, and
today 1,900 EXFO employees in over 25 countries work side by side
with our customers in the lab, field, data center and
beyond.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains
forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and we intend that such
forward-looking statements be subject to the safe harbors created
thereby. Forward-looking statements are statements other than
historical information or statements of current condition. Words
such as may, expect, believe, plan, anticipate, intend, could,
estimate, continue, or similar expressions or the negative of such
expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. In
addition, any statements that refer to expectations, projections or
other characterizations of future events and circumstances are
considered forward-looking statements. They are not guarantees of
future performance and involve risks and uncertainties. Actual
results may differ materially from those in forward-looking
statements due to various factors including, but not limited to,
macroeconomic uncertainty, including trade wars; our ability to
successfully integrate businesses that we acquire; capital spending
and network deployment levels in the telecommunications industry
(including our ability to quickly adapt cost structures to
anticipated levels of business and our ability to manage inventory
levels with market demand); future economic, competitive, financial
and market conditions; consolidation in the global
telecommunications test, service assurance and analytics solutions
markets and increased competition among vendors; capacity to adapt
our future product offering to future technological changes;
limited visibility with regard to the timing and nature of customer
orders; delay in revenue recognition due to longer sales cycles for
complex systems involving customers' acceptance; fluctuating
exchange rates; concentration of sales; timely release and market
acceptance of our new products and other upcoming products; our
ability to successfully expand international operations and to
conduct business internationally; and the retention of key
technical and management personnel. Assumptions relating to the
foregoing involve judgments and risks, all of which are difficult
or impossible to predict and many of which are beyond our control.
Other risk factors that may affect our future performance and
operations are detailed in our Annual Report, on Form 20-F, and our
other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and
the Canadian securities commissions. We believe that the
expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are
reasonable based on information currently available to us, but we
cannot assure you that the expectations will prove to have been
correct. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on these
forward-looking statements. These statements speak only as of the
date of this document. Unless required by law or applicable
regulations, we undertake no obligation to revise or update any of
them to reflect events or circumstances that occur after the date
of this document.
EXFO-C
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SOURCE EXFO Inc.