Infosys on Wednesday said that its board had approved up to Rs 9,200-crore buyback plan, wherein the IT major would buy back shares at a maximum price of Rs 1,750 apiece. The buyback is a part of the Bengaluru-based company’s capital return of Rs 15,600 crore, which also includes a final dividend of Rs 6,400 crore. 

The shares would be bought back via the open market route through the Indian stock exchanges, a regulatory filing said on Wednesday. From FY20, Infosys has enhanced its capital allocation plan and said that it would return 85 per cent of free cash flow cumulatively over five years via buyback and dividends. 

“We've declared Rs 6,400 crore of dividend and Rs 9,200 crore in the buyback. With our cumulative payout for FY21 and FY20, which are the first two years of the capital-allocation policy, we would have paid out 83 per cent of the 85 per cent of free cash flow. So, in that sense, I think this is completely in line with our policy, and that’s what the board also considered when deciding the amount of buyback,” Infosys Chief Financial Officer Nilanjan Roy told reporters. 

Trading was closed on Wednesday. Shares of Infosys had closed at Rs 1,398.60 apiece on Tuesday, down 1.91 per cent on BSE. The buyback price offered is over 25 per cent higher than the last closing price. 

Elaborating on capital-allocation exercise, Infosys statement said that for FY21, its board has recommended a final dividend of Rs 15 per share, and that, together with the interim dividend of Rs 12 per share already paid, the total dividend per share for FY21 would amount to Rs 27, which is a 54 per cent increase over that of FY20.