Public Companies under MOTIE Pay Dividends of 3 Trillion Won to Foreign Investors after IPO

Public institutions under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) paid out more than 3 trillion won (US$2.61 billion) of dividends to foreign investors alone after their initial public offerings (IPOs).

According to the office of Lee Hoon from Democratic Party of Korea on Feb. 20, the total dividend amount of six public institutions under the MOTIE, which went public, paid until 2015 after their IPOs stood at 5.38 trillion won (US$4.69 billion). Also, 3.11 trillion won (US$2.71 billion), or 57 percent, of them went to foreign investors.

Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) had the highest amount of paid dividends. The company paid a total of 3.83 trillion won (US$3.34 billion) until 2015 since it was listed in 1989. Kangwon Land came in second as it paid a private dividend of 894.5 billion won (US$779.52 million) since the company’s IPO in 2001.

KEPCO also paid the highest amount of dividends to foreign investors with 2.32 trillion won (US$2.02 billion), followed by Kangwon Land with 594 billion won (US$517.65 million). In terms of the ratio of dividends, however, Kangwon Land ranked first with 66.4 percent, followed by KEPCO with 60.5 percent.

Lee said, “There are serious leaks of public capital caused by IPOs of public institutions. The government says that a dividend income goes to the people who make investment as part of the purpose of the IPOs of power companies. However, the dividends of public institutions under the MOTIE paid to foreign capital exceed 3 trillion won (US$2.61 billion) and only some people with capital benefit from it.”