Wipro To Consider Issuing Bonus Shares
Wipro will discuss the proposal on along with the review of its financial results in its board meeting slated for Jan. 17
Wipro Ltd. is considering a proposal to issue bonus shares, the second such by the software services provider in the last two years.
The company said in a filing that it’ll discuss the proposal along with the possibility of an interim dividend when it reviews its financial results at a board meeting on Jan. 17. The Bengaluru-headquartered company said it will notify shareholders about the bonus issue—which was conducted the last time in 2017—on Jan. 18.
Over the past two years, Indian software companies have been returning excess cash in their books to shareholders by offering buybacks, dividend and bonus shares.
Wipro had carried out a share buyback scheme worth Rs 11,000 crore in November 2017 and is coming off a one-year moratorium for the same.
Share buybacks improve earnings per share and return surplus cash to shareholders, while also supporting share price during periods of sluggish market conditions.
Crosstown rival Infosys Ltd. announced a buyback of 10.3 crore shares and a special dividend for shareholders worth over Rs 10,000 crore last week. It had issued bonus shares in the ratio of 1:1 last year. Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. had completed a buyback worth Rs 16,000 crore in 2018, its second in the last three years.