VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Sep 11, 2015) - TELUS Corporation ("TELUS") (TSX:T)(TU) has purchased 12,048,600 shares under its 2015 Normal Course Issuer Bid (NCIB) program and will have completed the purchases under the 2015 program by September 14, 2015. TELUS has also received approval from the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) for a new Normal Course Issuer Bid program ("2016 NCIB") to purchase and cancel up to $500 million in additional shares over the next 12 months.
"Consistent with our goal to provide sustained and superior investment returns to our shareholders, we are pleased to announce that we will complete our 2015 buyback program in the coming days and will be accelerating the implementation of our 2016 NCIB program. This will fulfill our company's $2.5 billion multi-year share purchase program that we began in May 2013," said Darren Entwistle, TELUS President and CEO. "Since 2004, our company's longstanding track record for executing shareholder-friendly initiatives has resulted in $11.9 billion or $20 per share being returned to shareholders in dividends and share purchases. This success can be directly attributed to the TELUS team's steadfast commitment to our Customers First priority, which has enabled us to consistently deliver on our long-term, disciplined investment strategy for the benefit of our shareholders."
By September 14, 2015, TELUS will have completed its 2015 NCIB program with the purchase of approximately 12.1 million shares or 2.0 per cent of its outstanding shares for approximately $500 million. Upon completion of the 2015 NCIB, TELUS will have purchased and cancelled 56.3 million shares since the multi-year share purchase program began in 2013, reducing shares outstanding by 8.6 per cent. Cumulative dividend savings have been $147 million since the program began and TELUS will save approximately $100 million in annual dividend payments going forward.
The 2016 NCIB will enable TELUS to purchase up to 16 million TELUS common shares, 2.6 per cent of outstanding shares as at September 23, 2014, for an aggregate purchase price of up to $500 million from September 15, 2015 to September 14, 2016 through the facilities of the TSX, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and alternative trading platforms or otherwise as may be permitted by applicable securities laws and regulations. All shares purchased will be cancelled. The acceleration of the timeframe for the 2016 NCIB provides TELUS the flexibility to purchase TELUS common shares depending on market conditions without interruption.
TELUS will purchase shares only when and if the company considers it advisable, subject to any purchases that may be made under an automatic share purchase plan. Pursuant to TSX rules, the maximum number of common shares that may be purchased during the same trading day on the TSX is 268,196 common shares (being 25 per cent of the average daily trading volume of TELUS common shares for the six months preceding the date of the 2016 NCIB notice to the TSX, which was equal to 1,072,786 common shares), subject to certain exceptions for block purchases. As of September 23, 2014, TELUS had 611,831,177 common shares issued and outstanding.
TELUS will pay the market price at the time of acquisition for any common shares purchased under the NCIB through the TSX, the NYSE or alternative trading platforms. TELUS may also purchase common shares privately from time to time after obtaining exemption orders from applicable securities regulatory authorities. Any such private purchase made under an exemption order issued by a securities regulatory authority will generally be at a discount to the prevailing market price as provided in the exemption order.
TELUS is also planning to enter into an automatic share purchase plan (ASPP) with a broker for the purpose of permitting TELUS to purchase shares under its NCIB during internal blackout periods when TELUS would not be permitted to trade in its shares, including regularly scheduled quarterly blackout periods. Such purchases would be pursued at the sole discretion of the broker based on parameters established by TELUS prior to any blackout period in accordance with TSX rules, applicable securities laws and the terms of the agreement between the broker and TELUS. Subject to TSX approval, the ASPP may be implemented as early as October 1, 2015, and from time to time thereafter. All other purchases under the NCIB will be at the discretion of the company.
TELUS' Board of Directors believes that such purchases are in the best interest of TELUS and that such purchases constitute an attractive investment opportunity and desirable use of TELUS' funds that should enhance the value of the remaining shares.
Supporting TELUS' goals of returning capital to shareholders, in 2013, the company extended its semi-annual dividend growth program to 2016, normally announced in May and November, and is targeting to increase the dividend in the range of circa 10 per cent annually. Future dividends and share purchases will be dependent on earnings and free cash flow, subject to Board assessment and determination.
Forward Looking Statements
This media release contains statements about future events at TELUS that are forward-looking. By their nature, forward-looking statements require the company to make assumptions and predictions and are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties. There is significant risk that the forward-looking statements will not prove to be accurate. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as a number of factors could cause actual future events to differ materially from that expressed in the forward-looking statements. Specifically, there can be no assurance that the Company will maintain its dividend growth program through to 2016 or as to how many shares, if any, will ultimately be acquired by TELUS under its 2016 NCIB. Accordingly, this news release is subject to the disclaimer and qualified by the assumptions, qualifications and risk factors referred to in the first and second quarter 2015 Management's discussion and analysis, in the 2014 annual report, and in other TELUS public disclosure documents and filings with securities commissions in Canada (on SEDAR at sedar.com) and in the United States (on EDGAR at sec.gov), including factors such as regulatory and government decisions, competitive environment, reasonable economic performance in Canada, our earnings and free cash flow and capital expenditure and spectrum auction requirements, all of which, in addition to the factors outlined in this news release, may affect the Company's ability to sustain the dividend growth program through 2016, and the ability to sustain and complete multi-year share purchase programs through 2016. Except as required by law, TELUS disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements, and reserves the right to change, at any time, at its sole discretion, its current practice of updating annual targets and guidance.
About TELUS
TELUS (TSX:T)(TU) is Canada's fastest-growing national telecommunications company, with $12.3 billion of annual revenue and 13.9 million customer connections, including 8.4 million wireless subscribers, 3.1 million wireline network access lines, 1.5 million high-speed Internet subscribers and 954,000 TELUS TV customers. TELUS provides a wide range of communications products and services, including wireless, data, Internet protocol (IP), voice, television, entertainment and video, and is Canada's largest healthcare IT provider.
For more information about TELUS, please visit www.telus.com.
