Off the wire
• Indonesia says relations with Australia to be affected by executions  • Decision on HK universal suffrage "unshakable": NPC spokeswoman  • Kings smash Knicks 124-86  • China launches English, Japanese website for Diaoyu Islands  • Roundup: S.Korea to rapidly raise minimum wage to boost domestic demand  • UNASUR delegation to visit Venezuela to "support democracy": Maduro  • 630 killed in labor accidents in Vietnam in 2014  • 1st Ld-Writethru: Agenda set for China's legislative session  • 2nd LD Writethru: Ban urges "necessary compromises" from S. Sudan rivals  • 1st LD: China's defense budget growth rate drops to around 10 pct  
You are here: 　 Home

S.Korean companies increase cash dividend by 29 pct in 2014

Xinhua, March 4, 2015 Adjust font size:

South Korean companies raised cash dividend payment to shareholders by 29 percent in 2014 from a year earlier, bourse operator data showed Wednesday.

Cash dividend payment by listed companies amounted to 14.14 trillion won (12.9 billion U.S. dollars) in 2014, up 29.3 percent from a year earlier, according to Korea Exchange.

The number of listed firms, which reported cash dividend payment to the bourse operator, was 714 in 2014, up 9.8 percent from a year ago.

The increase in cash dividend payment came as the government pushed companies to pay more in cash dividend to stimulate the fragile domestic demand.

The Finance Ministry encouraged companies last year to raise wages and cash dividend payment, levying penalty taxes on corporations who do not follow the direction.

By market, cash dividend payment by companies listed on the main bourse advanced 28.9 percent, with the figure for the tech- savvy Kosdaq-listed firms jumping 35.7 percent.

The number of large corporations, which lifted dividend payment, was 45 in 2014, with the total amount reaching 8.81 trillion won.

Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor, South Korea's top two companies, also announced plans to lift dividend payments when they unveiled fourth-quarter earnings earlier this year. Endi