Don't you see that they want to reward the ones who got stuck rather than helping the ones who see the price is low now and want to bet on a rise to make a quick profit? By keeping the dates unchanged, the ones who got stuck due to the drop can now get the max chance that they can sell the shares if the price goes up. This means fewer shares will be offered and there is a high chance that the retail investors will be able to sell back to Westpac and there is a higher chance that even those who offer to sell back at a 0% discount will get some sold?
Say if you get $11 of dividend from this buyback scheme, that means 11/7 x 3 = 4.71 franking credit. If you bought at 25, and sell back at 21, you can still make a profit if you pay no tax and you can get back all the franking credit. So, this will help the ones who entered at $25. You also get tax loss to offset CGT too. So, it would be a sweet deal for the old faithful retail investors and grandpas and grandmas who are loyal holders to get dividends. They also got 0.6 dividends + franking too. So, that will help them a lot.
I only guess the number $11 as the dividend amount without trying to get a precise number. It should be close though. I think this will help a lot of retail holders!
WBC Price at posting:
$20.91 Sentiment: None Disclosure: Held
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