BSE board approves Rs166-cr buyback at Rs1,100 per share

The board of directors of BSE Ltd, Asia's oldest bourse, on Monday approved buyback of 1.509 million shares for a total of about Rs166 crore. The shares will be bought from the open market at a price not exceeding Rs1,100 per share,  an over 14 per cent premium to the scrip's closing price of Rs961.95 on Friday.

"The buyback shall not exceed Rs166 crore excluding brokerage costs, fees, turnover charges, taxes such as securities transaction tax and goods and services tax (if any), stamp duty and other transaction charges," the BSE said in a notice to NSE.

BSE said the maximum buyback size represents 9.99 per cent of the aggregate of the company's paid-up equity share capital and free reserves based on the standalone financial statements of the company as of 31 March 2017.

Shares of BSE closed 2.07 per cent higher at Rs981.90 on the NSE on Monday.

BSE is the second-largest stock exchange with a market share of 17 per cent in FY17 and the leader in the small and medium enterprises and mutual fund segments with 80 per cent and 82 per cent market share, respectively.

The company also has several ongoing initiatives such as Indian International Exchange and Commodity Trading. Trading on the International exchange began in January 2017, whereas commodity trading is yet to begin. BSE has proposed to levy transaction fees on the International Exchange by FY19.

Analysts expect BSE to report a combined annual growth rate of 8.4 per cent in its after-tax profit for the three financial years ending 2019 amidst rising flows into mutual funds, growing participation of investors in equities and increasing IPO activity.