Lee Jae-yong tops first-half dividend rankings with 72.8 billion won; Hong Ra-hee falls to fourth

[Financial News] Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong received 72.8 billion won in dividends in the first half of this year, overtaking his mother, honorary chairwoman Hong Ra-hee of the Leeum Museum of Art, to take the top spot in individual dividend income. Hong, who ranked first last year, fell to fourth after selling some Samsung Electronics shares to help fund inheritance tax payments.
According to Yonhap News Agency and others on the 4th, Leaders Index analyzed dividend disclosures from 2,873 listed companies in South Korea and found that 127 companies had completed quarterly or semiannual cash or stock dividend disclosures by the 3rd. That was up 47.7% from 86 companies in the same period last year.
Lee Jae-yong took first place in individual dividend income by receiving 72.8 billion won out of the 490.92 billion won in dividends paid in the first half of the year. Last year, his mother Hong ranked first, but this year she slipped to fourth with 54.4 billion won after selling shares to raise funds for inheritance tax payments.
Chung Mong-koo, honorary chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, came in second with 67.1 billion won, followed by Chung Mong-joon, chairman of The Asan Foundation, with 54.6 billion won. Lee Seo-hyun, president in charge of strategic planning at Samsung C&T Corporation, ranked fifth with 34.1 billion won, followed by Lee Boo-jin, president of Hotel Shilla, with 31.2 billion won. Chung Eui-sun, chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, received 28.4 billion won, while Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, received 19.5 billion won. The list also included Lee Hwa-kyung, vice chairwoman of Orion Corporation, with 14.1 billion won, and Kisun Chung, chairman of HD Hyundai, with 12.6 billion won.
Dividend payouts by listed companies also rose sharply. The total dividends paid by the 127 companies increased 18.4% from 11.416 trillion won to 13.52 trillion won. The average dividend yield for companies that announced first-half dividends also rose by 0.5 percentage points year on year to 1.8%.
Samsung Electronics paid the largest total dividend. It decided to distribute 245.33 billion won in the first quarter and 245.59 billion won in the second quarter, for a total of 490.92 billion won in the first half alone. However, because its share price rose sharply, the dividend yield was only 0.2% for common shares in the first quarter and 0.1% in the second quarter. Hyundai Motor Company ranked second after paying a combined 1.3092 trillion won in dividends in the first and second quarters.
Dividends from the four major financial holding companies also rose across the board. KB Financial Group paid 810.9 billion won, up 21.1% from a year earlier. Shinhan Financial Group Co., Ltd. paid 696.3 billion won, up 25.4%, Hana Financial Group Inc. paid 615.1 billion won, up 23.0%, and Woori Financial Group paid 321 billion won, up 9.1%.
Meanwhile, among the 127 companies that announced first-half dividends, 22 companies, or 17.3%, including Woori Financial Group, SK Square, and Doosan Bobcat, carried out reduced capital dividends. This is a method in which a company with retained earnings reduces paid-in capital such as capital reserves and distributes the amount to shareholders in cash. Because there is no dividend income tax, it is classified as a tax-free dividend.
[email protected] Kim Soo-yeon Reporter