VANCOUVER – Telus announced Tuesday it is doubling the scope of its share buyback program to $1 billion from $500 million.
The company’s board of directors approved an increase in Telus’ normal course issuer bid previously announced on May 21 to $1 billion, to be completed by the end of this year. Telus will repurchase approximately 4.9% of the company’s outstanding shares (about 31.9 million common shares).
As of June 30, Telus had bought approximately 8.4 million shares for a total of about $281 million, at an average of $33.40 per share.
In a statement, the company said it believes the share buyback increase will help “enhance the value” of Telus’ remaining shares, which have declined in value over the last several amid concerns that Verizon Communications Inc. is contemplating entering the Canadian wireless market through a takeover of Wind as well as Mobilicity.
