Qualcomm has announced that its board of directors has approved a major increase in the company's capital return programme to deliver value to stockholders. Effective immediately, the board has authorised the company to repurchase up to USD 15 billion of its common stock. The USD 15 billion programme replaces the previous programme, which had a USD 2.1 billion authorisation remaining.
Qualcomm intends to repurchase USD 10 billion of its common stock within approximately twelve months of the date of this announcement, in addition to its current commitment to return a minimum of 75 percent of its free cash flow to stockholders through stock repurchases and dividends.
The board also approved a 14 percent increase in Qualcomm's quarterly cash dividend, raising the annualised dividend payout to USD 1.92 per share of common stock. The cash dividend will increase from USD 0.42 to USD 0.48 per share of common stock and will be effective for quarterly dividends payable after 25 march. The company plans to finance the capital return programme primarily by accessing the public debt markets in 2015.
