Swisscom will keep paying excess cash to shareholders in the absence of a take-over candidate and after talks with Telekom Austria collapsed, a newspaper reported on Sunday, citing Swisscom's top executive.
Last week Swisscom and Telekom Austria ended talks aimed at a cross-Alpine telecoms tie-up. Swisscom is already in the middle of a share buyback programme worth up to 2 billion Swiss francs ($1.60 billion).
"At the moment, I don't see on our radar screen a take-over candidate," Chief Executive Jens Alder told the SonntagsBlick. "That is why we continue to pay back the excess money to shareholders in the form of dividends and share buybacks." A spokeswoman from Swisscom confirmed his comments.
The failure of merger talks with Telekom Austria has left cash-rich Swisscom with few prospects for an acquisition outside its limited home market.
Alder said a merger would have made sense for both companies although the take-over was not necessary from a strategic perspective. But the CEO expressed his disappointment after almost two years of on-off take-over talks.