Government Dividend Income 2.13 Trillion Won... KDB Achieves Record High

Dividend Payout Ratio 39.87%

Choi Sang-mok, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and Minister of Economy and Finance, is giving a briefing on the "Comprehensive Support Plan for the Semiconductor Ecosystem" at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the 23rd. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

The government received over 2 trillion won in dividends from its investee institutions this year.

On the 30th, the Ministry of Economy and Finance announced that it received a total of 2.1322 trillion won in dividends from 17 out of 40 government-invested institutions that paid dividends last year. The average dividend payout ratio was 39.87%, maintaining a similar level to the previous year (39.93%), but the scale significantly increased.

Policy banks that greatly increased their operating profits led the dividends, while energy public enterprises with deteriorating profitability continued to pay no dividends.

The government dividends from the three major policy banks?Korea Development Bank, Industrial Bank of Korea, and Export-Import Bank of Korea?exceeded 1.5 trillion won, marking the largest scale ever. It appears that measures reflecting 'enhancement of shareholder value' in the public institution management evaluation as part of the value-up policy also had an impact.

By institution, Korea Development Bank paid the most with 878.1 billion won. Korea Development Bank recorded the largest dividend ever by earning a net profit of 2.5 trillion won last year.

Next were Industrial Bank of Korea with 466.8 billion won, Incheon International Airport Corporation with 224.8 billion won, Export-Import Bank of Korea with 184.7 billion won, Korea Investment Corporation with 94.4 billion won, and Korea Land and Housing Corporation with 94.3 billion won.

Energy public enterprises such as Korea Electric Power Corporation, Korea Gas Corporation, and Korea District Heating Corporation decided on no dividends again this time due to deteriorating profitability.