KB News Desk
Samsung Electronics said Friday it plans to return between 90 trillion won ($65.2 billion) and 110 trillion won to shareholders this year, marking the largest shareholder return ever undertaken by a Korean company.
The tech giant said its board approved the plan earlier in the day, with the upper end of the range more than five times its previous record of 20.3 trillion won in 2020.
“The record shareholder return is aimed at ensuring that the benefits of the company’s growth are shared with shareholders in a tangible way and at sustaining a virtuous cycle between corporate growth and enhanced shareholder value,” a Samsung Electronics official said.
The move is part of Samsung’s existing three-year shareholder return policy, which runs from 2024 through 2026 and calls for 50 percent of its free cash flow to be returned to shareholders.
Samsung paid 9.8 trillion won in regular dividends in each of 2024 and 2025, bringing the two-year total to 19.6 trillion won. Last year, it also paid 1.3 trillion won in special dividends and bought back and canceled 8.4 trillion won worth of its own shares.
Including this year’s planned returns, Samsung is expected to return a total of 120 trillion won to 140 trillion won to shareholders over the three-year period.
The company plans to pay about 30 trillion won in cash dividends this year, including its regular third-quarter dividend. The exact size and structure of the dividend will be finalized at a board meeting in late October.
The remainder of this year’s shareholder return will be determined at a board meeting in January, after the company finalizes its full-year results. Samsung said it is considering a combination of additional cash dividends and share buybacks followed by cancellations.
Separately, the board approved the purchase of about 15 trillion won worth of treasury shares to fund employee compensation.
The employee compensation program is separate from the shareholder return plan, though the company said the share purchases are also expected to contribute to enhancing shareholder value.
