Hear what you say PJ, yet we're having to read in near pitch darkness -as apple
is very secretive. Apple has stated that its going to repurchase stock. Upto
$10 billion 'so' they say. Do the accountants and financial wizards want to
repurchase at a high price or a low price? Should we take any notice of what
might be an orchestrated down-turn. Apple hold all the cards and only they know
what they hold in their hand.
http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/AAPL/2148856300x0x610219/112dd7d2-e33a-
44ad-b4ea-8870c5dd9281/AAPL_10K_FY12_10.31.12.pdf
Dividend and
Stock Repurchase Program
In March 2012, the Board of Directors of the Company
approved a dividend policy pursuant to which it plans to
pay, subject to
subsequent declaration, quarterly dividends of $2.65 per share. The Company
expects to pay
approximately $2.5 billion each quarter in conjunction with
the quarterly declared dividends.
In March 2012, the Company’s Board of
Directors authorized a program to repurchase up to $10 billion of
the
Company’s common stock beginning in 2013. The repurchase program is expected
to be executed over a threeyear
period with the primary objective of
neutralizing the impact of dilution from future employee equity grants
and
employee stock purchase programs. The repurchase program does not obligate the
Company to acquire any
specific number of shares. The Company anticipates that
it will utilize approximately $45 billion of domestic
cash to pay dividends,
repurchase shares, and to remit withheld taxes related to net share settlement
of restricted
stock units in the first three years of the dividend and stock
repurchase programs. The Company anticipates the
cash used for future dividends
and the repurchase program will come primarily from current domestic cash
and
from on-going U.S. operating activities and the cash generated from such
activities.
On the Motorola licensing issue. Apple obtained
legal title to the Intel sub-assemblies in 'Japan' and thus imported them to the
US themselves – violating Motorola's regional licensing conditions. If they did
that, thinking it was OK (and Might-Is-Right), can that explain why the pay so
little US and other corporation tax. In the same doc above they state they use
a rule of thumb that if they think they have a better than 50% chance of
winning with the tax authorities then that OK. What do they base this on.
Microsoft, Starbucks, et, al pay very corporation tax. Non, have been brought to
book -yet. So a 50% chance may be calculated on those example alone. Other
multinationals with similar cash-flows tends to be the likes of oil companies,
aircraft manufactures, defence contractor etc.. The can't achieve such
advantageous tax avoidance because their local governments scrutinise their
accounts in detail. These international tax advantages where introduced to save
international companies from the burden of 'double taxation' – not to provide
a route to no taxation. If Apple's international accounts were to be scrutinise
in such detail, would they also be found to be interpreting the law along the
lines of “don't ask for permission – just ask for forgiveness if we get found
out” This is more than just tax regulations and the 'spirit of the law' but
the reappearance (IMHO) of "the unacceptable face of
capitalism".
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20197710
PS. Sorry for
the absence of clicky's [ Reply to This | Parent | # ]
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