Unified communications company, Plantronics (News 
- Alert), released an announcement from its board of directors this week citing a 1 million share repurchase to follow the program initially announced in August last year.
The initial program was also designed to repurchase 1 million shares.
The new program will repurchase shares of its common stock from time-to-time based on the current market conditions, both in open market and privately negotiated transactions.
In a company press release, Plantronics Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Barbara Scherer (News - Alert) said in a statement, “We have a consistent record of share repurchases, with this being our 24th repurchase program since fiscal 1997. We believe that our cash on hand and future cash flows provide sufficient liquidity to support an additional 1,000,000 share repurchase program."
Scherer added that the company purchases shares at times when it will be “strongly accretive” to earnings per share in comparison to alternative investment choices.
“Our Board of Directors believes that Plantronics’ stock presents an attractive investment for the Company and its stockholders,” she said.
When the company initially proposed the repurchase program last August, Scherer gave the Associated Press (News - Alert) a similar statement, that Plantronics has repurchased more than 21 million shares since fiscal 1997, and the company’s future cash flows will provide enough liquidity to buy back another 1 million shares.
Prior to the repurchase, the company saw overall revenue decline caused by general economic weakness. Executives told the company’s local paper, the Santa Cruz Sentinel that Bluetooth headset sales were not as slow as expected and the company had experienced some stabilization in the North American headset market.
Ken Kannappan (News - Alert), chief executive officer and president for Plantronics told the paper, that unified communications will be the biggest single driver for corporate revenue and earnings growth, planning for a profitable fiscal 2010.
“We are entering fiscal year 2010 with a strong balance sheet, a lean cost structure and a better competitive position,” he said.
The company’s projection at the time for the unified communications market is growth to $350 million annually by fiscal 2015.
Plantronics continues to push the development of the industry, forging its way into all areas of headsets—most recently releasing a new headset range for gamers through GamingZap.com.
Janice McDuffee has worked in marketing, editing and freelance writing for companies including SheKnows and HBM Inc. after receiving her master's and bachelor's degrees in journalism from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.Edited by
Janice McDuffee
