Bank Dividends
The six financial holding companies of KB, Woori, Shinhan, Hana, SC, and Citi paid foreign shareholders cash dividends worth a total of 2.8283 trillion won (US$2.5398) combined between 2010 and 2013.
During the period, the Shinhan Financial Group’s payout ratio reached 16.8 percent to 20.5 percent, and those of the KB and Hana Financial Groups were 11.3 percent to 18.7 percent and 6.3 percent to 14.0 percent, respectively. Foreigners owned 64.5 percent of Shinhan, 63.5 percent of KB, and 70.1 percent of Hana.
Citi and SC, where the shareholding ratios are 100 percent, also paid high dividends despite their sluggish performances. Their payout ratios were 13.9 percent to 39.0 percent and 29.9 percent to 83.8 percent, respectively.
SC increased its dividends from 81 billion won (US$73 million) to 120 billion won (US$108 million) between 2011 and 2012, even though its current net income was halved from a year earlier in 2012. Hana increased its dividends as well, from 108.5 billion won (US$97.44 million) to 115.8 billion won (US$104.0 million) in 2013, in spite of a 43 percent decline in current net income.
The combined net profits of the six banks are less than half of those of Samsung Electronics. Yet, their dividends were comparable to those of the electronics giant. Samsung Electronics’ dividend payout ratio was 6.9 percent to 12.0 percent during the period, when the percentages were 9.9 percent to 11.9 percent for Hyundai Motor Company, 1.1 percent to 5.0 percent for Naver, and 18.3 percent to 40.0 percent for POSCO.