Samsung Electronics on Thursday announced its intention to pay a large exceptional dividend to its shareholders, a decision interpreted as a boost to the family that controls the South Korean tech giant when the latter must pay several billion dollars in inheritance tax.
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The group will pay a record total of 13.120 billion won (9.69 billion euros) in dividends to its shareholders, or 1,932 won (1.43 euros) per share for fiscal year 2020. Samsung said the payment included a special dividend of 1,578 won per share.
When he died in October, former group chairman Lee Kun-hee, also the richest man in South Korea, left his children a monumental fortune, but also taxes to be paid which would amount to more. of 10 billion dollars.
The announcement Thursday of the world's leading smartphone and memory chip maker of a special dividend has therefore been interpreted by analysts as a way of helping the heirs of the conglomerate to cope with this bill.
A dividend of "
2,000 won per share is astonishing
"
Under South Korean law, Lee Kun-hee's estate is taxed at 50%, plus a 20% surcharge on the shares he held as the company's main shareholder.
Media have estimated the family's inheritance tax to be around $ 10.2 billion (€ 8.43 billion) on the late patriarch's stock market assets alone.
A dividend of "
some 2,000 won per share is an astonishing amount and it will greatly ease the inheritance tax burden
," said Kim Dae-jong, professor of commerce at Sejong University.
Samsung, which reported its annual results Thursday, also announced a new three-year program to increase shareholder returns.
The group reported a 26% increase in fourth quarter net profit from a year earlier, but warned of uncertainties over the pandemic.
Read also: The president of Samsung returns to prison
One of the heirs, group vice chairman and de facto boss Lee Jae-yong, is currently in custody after being sentenced to two and a half years in prison last week following a retrial over an extensive corruption scandal, which could complicate the decision-making process at the top of the company.
