[Special Stock] Naver Rises Over 3% on News of 400 Billion KRW Diatomaceous Earth Treasury Stock Cancellation

NAVER is showing strong gains in early trading following news of its share buyback and cancellation.

As of 9:13 a.m. on the 30th, NAVER is trading at 175,800 KRW, up 5,400 KRW (3.17%) from the previous close.

On this day, NAVER announced that it will invest approximately 400 billion KRW by the end of this year to repurchase and cancel 1.5% of its issued shares as part of a special shareholder return program.

NAVER explained that this special shareholder return program is an additional measure separate from the ongoing shareholder return policies. Previously, in May last year, NAVER announced that it would pay out 15-30% of the average free cash flow (FCF) over the past two years entirely in cash dividends. This program will be carried out using special dividends from A Holdings, the largest shareholder of Line Yahoo, in which NAVER holds a 50% stake.

NAVER stated, "From December 2 to December 28, we plan to repurchase approximately 2,347,500 shares, which is about 1.5% of the total issued shares, and cancel all of them on December 31. In addition to the dividend-focused shareholder return approach over the past three years, the board has decided to acquire and cancel treasury shares at this time, especially as the stock price has fallen significantly this year, to enhance shareholder value more strongly."