By Park Hyong-ki
Samsung Electronics’ friendly shareholder policy of paying higher dividends will push the KOSPI-listed companies’ aggregate payouts to a record high this year, according to the Korea Exchange (KRX).
The estimate is around 22 trillion to 27 trillion won for 2017.
Last year, companies on the main bourse paid out dividends worth 21.8 trillion won.
Should things go according to the forecast of better earnings driven by global demand and recovery, the total amount of dividends could reach 25 trillion won, analysts said.
Also, the dividend yield will surpass that of bank deposits and savings for the first time here, they added.
This is mostly due to growth led by Samsung Electronics, the biggest company on the KOSPI.
Samsung said it will pay 50 percent of its free cash flow to its shareholders every year from 2018 to 2020, and pay 9.6 trillion won in cash dividends during the same period.
Samsung reported an operating profit of 14.53 trillion won in the third quarter, up 179 percent from the previous quarter.
Its record core earnings were attributable to its strong DRAM and NAND flash memory chip business, which accounted for more than 68 percent of its operating profit. DRAMs are used for desktop computers while NANDs are crucial for mobile devices such as smartphones.
In 2015, total dividends paid out by the KOSPI-listed companies surpassed 20 trillion won for the first time.
Over the last three years, the dividend growth averaged about 18 percent annually.
Besides Samsung Electronics, Hyundai Motor will also be handing out handsome dividends to its shareholders.
The tech giant will be paying dividends worth 34,345 won per share, or 4.4 trillion won in total.
The auto giant is expected to pay 4,020 won per share, or 885.6 billion won in total, according to a consensus of brokerages compiled by FNguide, a local securities analytics firm.
The next highest dividend payers will be the financial giants, including Shinhan Financial Group at 838.3 billion won and KB Financial Group at 833.3 billion won.