Samsung Elec pledges $11 bn shareholder benefit program

Samsung Electronics Co. which ended 2016 with its second-best-ever earnings on Tuesday pledged largest-ever cash dividend payout of more than $3 billion and treasury share buyback program worth $8 billion to further bolster shareholders’ value. It did not specify capital investment plan for 2017.

The electronics giant on Tuesday announced that its board of directors approved 2016 year-end dividend of 27,500 won for common shares and 27,550 won for preferred shares, costing the cash-rich company 3.85 trillion won ($3.3 billion) in total payout out of 2016 account compared with 3.1 trillion won in 2015.

Samsung Electronics finished Tuesday mildly higher - 5,000 won - at 1,908,000 won as its stellar earnings and buyback and dividend program had already been known.

Following its face-losing flop with fire-prone premium phone Galaxy Note7, Samsung in November pledged cash dividend payout of nearly 4 trillion won.

In separate effort to bolster value for its shareholders, the company would spend 9.3 trillion won this year to buy back shares in three to four occasions after careful consideration of market conditions, it said. The shares will be entirely cancelled to boost earnings per share for existing shareholders.

It would use 8.5 trillion won left in its cash hoard after 2016 dividend payout and pull up another 800 billion won in carryover from 2015 account to finance this year’s stock repurchase.

The first program of repurchasing and retiring 1.02 million common shares and 255,000 common shares will start Wednesday and carried out over the next three months.

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