Dividends by public companies fall this year

Dividend payouts by listed firms in Korea dropped in March from a year ago amid coronavirus uncertainties, with the upcoming June interim payouts also expected to decline, data showed Sunday.

A total of 18 listed companies paid a combined 2.68 trillion won ($2.23 billion) to their shareholders for quarterly dividends this year, down 4.2 percent or 116.9 billion won from a year ago, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service.

The number of dividend-paying firms also fell by two from a year earlier.

The payouts are expected to undergo a two-digit fall in June this year, a big fall from the combined 3.72 trillion won paid by 54 listed firms, including Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor, a year earlier.

Yonhap