QUEBEC CITY, March 25, 2015 /PRNewswire/ - EXFO Inc. (NASDAQ:
EXFO; TSX: EXF) announced today that its Board of Directors has
authorized the renewal of its share repurchase program, by way of a
normal course issuer bid ("NCIB") on the open market, of up to 10%
(1,397,598 subordinate voting shares) of the public float
(13,975,983 subordinate voting shares as of March 20, 2015) as defined by the Toronto Stock
Exchange ("TSX").
EXFO had 22,221,590 subordinate voting shares outstanding on
March 20, 2015. As of March 20, 2015, EXFO had repurchased in the
course of the previous renewal of its NCIB a total of 450,956
shares, being 139,986 shares on the TSX at a weighted average
amount of CA$ 4.35 and 310,970 shares on the NASDAQ at a
weighted average amount of US$ 3.96 (of which were repurchased
in the last 12 months: 78,056 shares on the TSX at a weighted
average amount of CA$ 4.03 and 158,430 shares on the NASDAQ at
a weighted average amount of US$
3.60, for a total of 236,486 shares). The previous renewal
of the NCIB had been effective since January
13, 2013 and expired on January 12,
2014.
The TSX has accepted a notice filed by EXFO of its intention to
renew its 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 Global Market, 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 March
27, 2015 and end on March 26,
2015 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 17,331 on the TSX and
29,248 on the NASDAQ over the last six months preceding
March 20, 2015. Accordingly, EXFO is
entitled to repurchase up to 25% of the ADTV on any trading day
(being 4,332 subordinate voting shares on the TSX and 7,312
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
Listed on the NASDAQ and TSX stock
exchanges, EXFO is a leading provider of next-generation test,
service assurance and end-to-end quality of experience solutions
for mobile and fixed network operators and equipment manufacturers
in the global telecommunications industry. EXFO's intelligent
solutions with contextually relevant analytics improve end-user
quality of experience, enhance network performance and drive
operational efficiencies throughout the network and service
delivery lifecycle. Key technologies supported include 3G, 4G/LTE,
VoLTE, IMS, video, Ethernet/IP, SNMP, OTN, FTTx, xDSL and various
optical technologies accounting for more than 38% of the global
portable fiber-optic test market. EXFO has a staff of approximately
1600 people in 25 countries, supporting more than 2000 customers
worldwide. For more information, visit www.EXFO.com and follow us
on the EXFO Blog, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Google+ and
YouTube.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains
forward-looking information or statements ("forward-looking
statements"). 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 statement that refers 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 as well as capital
spending and network deployment levels in the telecommunications
industry (including our ability to quickly adapt cost structures
with 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 and service assurance industry and
increased competition among vendors; capacity to adapt our future
product offering to future technological changes; limited
visibility with regards to timing and nature of customer orders;
longer sales cycles for complex systems involving customers'
acceptances delaying revenue recognition; 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; our ability to
successfully integrate businesses that we acquire; 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.
SOURCE EXFO inc.