Cisco Extends Stock Buyback

November 19, 2007: In a move that indicates it believes its stock is undervalued, Cisco has announced that it is extending its stock buyback plan by US$10 billion.

Following the latest meeting of the firm;s board of directors, the extra US$10 (AU$11.19) billion being devoted to re-purchasing common stock brings the total amount authorised to date to US$62 (AU$69.4) billion.

Since the repurchase program kicked off in September 2001, the company has repurchased and retired 2.3 billion shares at an average price of US$19.89 (AU$22.26) per share and totalling US$46.2 (AU$51.71) billion. Before last week’s US$10 billion boost, US$5.8 (AU$6.49) billion in authorised funds remained.

“We have consistently generated strong cash from operations,” said Dennis Powell, chief financial officer, Cisco. “This allows us to return a significant amount of cash to our shareholders in the form of stock repurchases while at the same time continue to make strategic internal investments and acquisitions to drive future growth.”

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