SK Co., Ltd. Decides Interim Dividend of 1,500 KRW per Share... 5 Consecutive Years

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Hyung-gil] Investment specialist company SK Co., Ltd. will conduct an interim dividend for the fifth consecutive year.

On the 21st, SK held a board meeting and decided to pay an interim dividend of 1,500 KRW per share. Last year, it also paid an interim dividend of 1,500 KRW, and the total payment amount is about 85 billion KRW, similar to the previous year.

Since SK conducted its first interim dividend in 2018, it has steadily paid interim dividends every year. The total annual dividend amount has continuously increased, doubling from approximately 208.7 billion KRW in 2016 to 447.6 billion KRW in 2021 over five years.

At the shareholders' meeting last March, SK announced a strengthened shareholder return policy to repurchase at least 1% of its market capitalization annually until 2025.

SK is focusing on strengthening competitiveness in its four core investment businesses: advanced materials, bio, green, and digital, while rapidly laying the groundwork to lead future key industries.

In January, SK invested 350 million USD in CBM, a U.S. cell and gene therapy (CGT) contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), becoming its second-largest shareholder. The French CGT CDMO company Eposky, acquired last year, plans to complete its second plant within this year and start mass commercial production in 2023.

In April, SK acquired YesPowerTechnics, a silicon carbide (SiC) power semiconductor design company and the only domestic company with mass production capability, establishing a value chain from SiC wafer production to semiconductor design and manufacturing.

In May, SK entered the small modular reactor (SMR) market, recognized as a safe power source with zero carbon emissions, and is discussing business cooperation plans with TerraPower, a U.S. SMR company founded by Bill Gates, together with SK Innovation.

Lee Sung-hyung, SK’s Chief Financial Officer, said, "We are focusing on concretizing growth engines for each core business and securing differentiated competitiveness," adding, "We will continue to strive to ensure that business achievements lead to enhanced corporate value."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.