Last checked at 31 Oct 2017 07:00
Shareholder Return Program for FY2018-2020
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (KS005930, KS005935, SMSN, SMSD) ("SEC") announced today that its Board of Directors at their meeting on October 31, 2017 approved a shareholder return program for FY2018-2020. The core strategy of the policy enhancement is to provide investor community with greater predictability on the returns program.
· The company will increase annual dividends for FY2017 by 20 percent compared to that of FY2016, which will be followed by a 100 percent rise in dividends for FY2018 compared to that of FY2017. The FY2019 and FY2020 dividends will be kept at the same level with that of FY2018.
· Future M&A investments will not be deducted from free cash flow (FCF). This policy change will prevent the amount of capital available to return to shareholders from decreasing and result in greater transparency and predictability.
· The company will change the standard period of returning minimum 50% of FCF from a one-year basis to a three-year basis. This is to address steep fluctuation of annual shareholder return resulting from fluctuation of the annual FCF. After dividend payouts, any remaining portion of the 50% of FCF available for shareholder returns will be used either for additional cash dividends or share buybacks as deemed appropriate.