SK hynix unveils 100 trillion won shareholder return plan

SK hynix has announced a shareholder return plan of about 100 trillion won for this year, according to bloter.net, combining a sharply higher quarterly dividend with the largest share buyback and cancellation in Korean market history. The company reported third-quarter revenue of 104.6155 trillion won and operating profit of 83.3338 trillion won.

The quarterly dividend per share rose to 20,000 won from 375 won in the prior quarter. Of that 20,000 won, 10,000 won came from gains on the company's investment in Kioxia. The third-quarter operating margin was 79.7%.

The plan includes more than 30 trillion won in cash dividends and more than 60 trillion won in share buybacks and cancellations. SK hynix has already bought back 40 trillion won of its own shares, the largest such buyback by a listed Korean company, and its share price rose nearly 11% in one day.

Under the schedule, SK hynix will pay more than 15 trillion won in dividends in the fourth quarter and cancel more than 20 trillion won of shares in early next year, reducing issued shares by about 5.9 million. A separate 10 trillion won treasury share purchase for employee compensation is excluded from the shareholder return total.

Nasdaq listing and Solidigm

The returns follow SK hynix's listing of ADRs on Nasdaq in July, which raised about 26.5 billion dollars. The company issued about 17.79 million common shares at about 2.25 million won per share and bought about 23.69 million treasury shares at an average of about 1.69 million won. On the 23rd of last month, SK hynix said it had halted its review of an IPO for US NAND subsidiary Solidigm.

The company had promised in November 2024 to return within 50% of three-year cumulative free cash flow, and in August changed that commitment to more than 50% of free cash flow. Samsung Electronics, meanwhile, confirmed a dividend of 4,601 won per share, totaling 30 trillion won.