LG Uplus to initiate value-up plan by retiring shares

LG Uplus headquarters in Yongsan District, Seoul / Courtesy of LG Uplus

LG Uplus has announced that it will retire about 100 billion won ($72.87 million) worth of treasury shares on Aug. 5 and initiate a new share buyback as part of its value-up plan.

The company will cancel 6,783,006 of its own shares at a price of 5,000 won, which represents about 1.55 percent of the total shares. It explained that since these are shares already purchased out of retained earnings, it will not decrease the company's capital.

To boost its corporate value, it also plans to buy an additional 80 billion won of its own shares, conducting its first share buyback since 2021. Based on last week’s share price of 14,990 won, this means buying back more than 5.3 million additional shares, which will count for 1.2 percent of the company’s total shares. The buyback will be carried out in phases over a year starting Aug. 4.

LG Uplus also shared that it has decided to pay an interim dividend of 250 won per share, which is the same amount as last year, totaling about 107.46 billion won. This translates to a dividend yield of 1.7 percent. Its record date is Aug. 5, and the payments will be made to shareholders on Aug. 20.

Last November, the company announced its value-up plan to enhance corporate value and strengthen its competitiveness, laying out medium- and long-term financial targets and shareholder return strategies.

As part of the plan, the company is now following through on its commitment to enhance shareholder returns by retiring about 100 billion won worth of treasury stock and launching a flexible share buyback.