EXFO Renews Normal Course Issuer Bid

QUEBEC CITY, March 29, 2016 /CNW Telbec/ - EXFO Inc. (NASDAQ: EXFO) (TSX: EXF) announced today that its Board of Directors has authorized the renewal of its share repurchase program, by way of a normal course issuer bid ("NCIB") on the open market, of up to approximately 6.6% (900,000 subordinate voting shares) of the public float of 13,572,485 subordinate voting shares (as defined by the Toronto Stock Exchange ("TSX")), as of March 21, 2016.

On March 21, 2016, EXFO had 22,305,802 subordinate voting shares outstanding. In the course of the previous renewal of its NCIB, EXFO repurchased a total of 194,389 shares, being 91,870 shares on the TSX at a weighted average amount of CA$3.87 and 102,519 shares on the NASDAQ Global Market ("NASDAQ") at a weighted average amount of US$2.94. The previous renewal of the NCIB had been effective since March 27, 2015 and expired on March 26, 2016.

The TSX has accepted a notice filed by EXFO of its intention to renew its NCIB. EXFO may use cash, short-term investments and future cash flows from operations to fund the repurchase of shares. Repurchases under the bid will be made on the open market, through the facilities of the TSX and NASDAQ, at the prevailing market price. The timing of such repurchases, if any, will depend on price, market conditions and applicable regulatory requirements.

The NCIB will become effective on April 1, 2016 and end on March 31, 2017 or on an earlier date if EXFO repurchases the maximum number of shares permitted. The average daily trading volume (ADTV) of EXFO's subordinate voting shares was 9,730 on the TSX and 22,074 on the NASDAQ for the most recently completed six calendar months. Accordingly, EXFO is entitled to repurchase up to 25% of the ADTV on any trading day (being 2,432 subordinate voting shares on the TSX and 5,518 subordinate voting shares on the NASDAQ) or pursuant to the applicable rules of the TSX. The program does not require the company to repurchase a minimum number of shares and it may be modified, suspended or terminated at any time without prior notice. All shares acquired by EXFO under the bid will be cancelled.

EXFO believes that the repurchase of some of its subordinate voting shares is an appropriate and desirable use of its available cash. Consequently, EXFO believes that the offer is made in the best interests of the company and its shareholders. 

About EXFO
EXFO provides communications service providers (CSPs) with test orchestration and performance intelligence solutions to ensure the smooth deployment, maintenance and management of next-generation, physical, virtual, fixed and mobile networks. The company has also forged strong relationships with network solution vendors (NSVs) to develop deep expertise that migrates from the lab to the field and beyond. EXFO's key differentiation comes from combining intelligent, automated and cloud-based test and monitoring solutions with real-time analytics to deliver unmatched end-to-end visibility and assurance—from a network, services and end-user level. EXFO is no. 1 in portable optical testing and boasts the largest active service assurance deployment worldwide. For more information, visit www.EXFO.com and follow us on the EXFO Blog.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and we intend that such forward-looking statements be subject to the safe harbors created thereby. Forward-looking statements are statements other than historical information or statements of current condition. Words such as may, expect, believe, plan, anticipate, intend, could, estimate, continue, or similar expressions or the negative of such expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. In addition, any statement that refers to expectations, projections or other characterizations of future events and circumstances are considered forward-looking statements. They are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements due to various factors including, but not limited to, macroeconomic uncertainty as well as capital spending and network deployment levels in the telecommunications industry (including our ability to quickly adapt cost structures with anticipated levels of business and our ability to manage inventory levels with market demand); future economic, competitive, financial and market conditions; consolidation in the global telecommunications test and service assurance industry and increased competition among vendors; capacity to adapt our future product offering to future technological changes; limited visibility with regards to timing and nature of customer orders; longer sales cycles for complex systems involving customers' acceptances delaying revenue recognition; fluctuating exchange rates; concentration of sales; timely release and market acceptance of our new products and other upcoming products; our ability to successfully expand international operations; our ability to successfully integrate businesses that we acquire; and the retention of key technical and management personnel. Assumptions relating to the foregoing involve judgments and risks, all of which are difficult or impossible to predict and many of which are beyond our control. Other risk factors that may affect our future performance and operations are detailed in our Annual Report, on Form 20-F, and our other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Canadian securities commissions. We believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable based on information currently available to us, but we cannot assure that the expectations will prove to have been correct. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. These statements speak only as of the date of this document. Unless required by law or applicable regulations, we undertake no obligation to revise or update any of them to reflect events or circumstances that occur after the date of this document.

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SOURCE EXFO inc.

Vance Oliver, Director, Investor Relations, [phone], Ext. 23733, [email protected]