QUEBEC CITY, March 29, 2016 /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 approximately 6.6% (900,000 subordinate voting
shares) of the public float of 13,572,485 subordinate voting shares
(as defined by the Toronto Stock Exchange ("TSX")), as of
March 21, 2016.
On March 21, 2016, EXFO had
22,305,802 subordinate voting shares outstanding. In the course of
the previous renewal of its NCIB, EXFO repurchased a total of
194,389 shares, being 91,870 shares on the TSX at a weighted
average amount of CA$3.87 and 102,519 shares on the NASDAQ Global
Market ("NASDAQ") at a weighted average amount of US$2.94. The previous renewal of the NCIB had
been effective since March 27, 2015
and expired on March 26, 2016.
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, 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 April
1, 2016 and end on March 31,
2017 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 9,730 on the TSX and 22,074
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 2,432 subordinate voting shares on
the TSX and 5,518 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 provides communications service
providers (CSPs) with test orchestration and performance
intelligence solutions to ensure the smooth deployment, maintenance
and management of next-generation, physical, virtual, fixed and
mobile networks. The company has also forged strong relationships
with network solution vendors (NSVs) to develop deep expertise that
migrates from the lab to the field and beyond. EXFO's key
differentiation comes from combining intelligent, automated and
cloud-based test and monitoring solutions with real-time analytics
to deliver unmatched end-to-end visibility and assurance—from a
network, services and end-user level. EXFO is no. 1 in portable
optical testing and boasts the largest active service assurance
deployment worldwide. For more information, visit www.EXFO.com and
follow us on the EXFO Blog.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press 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 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 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-F
SOURCE EXFO inc.