Plan to Buy Back and Cancel 1-2% of Market Capitalization in Treasury Shares
SK Inc. announced that it will pay a minimum dividend of 5,000 KRW per share regardless of business performance to enhance corporate value (value-up). This amounts to approximately 280 billion KRW annually. Additionally, it plans to increase corporate value through business restructuring (rebalancing) and operational efficiency improvements.
On the 28th, SK Inc. disclosed a "Corporate Value Enhancement (Value-Up) Plan" centered on these points. First, SK Inc. set the minimum dividend per share at 5,000 KRW (based on common stock), regardless of business performance or fluctuations in recurring dividend income.
SK REITs (SK Entrusted Management Real Estate Investment Company) will enter the KOSPI market next month. On the 18th, the SK Group headquarters located in Jongno-gu, SK Seorin Building. Photo by Mun Honam munonam@
Furthermore, SK Inc. plans to use gains from asset sales and special dividend income generated during the business restructuring process to repurchase and retire treasury shares equivalent to 1-2% of its market capitalization or to pay additional dividends. Previously, SK Inc. paid special dividends from investment gains such as the 2021 listing of SK Biopharm and the partial sale of logistics company ESR shares in 2022.
An SK Inc. official explained, "Compared to the plan announced in 2022 to pay at least 30% of recurring dividend income in cash dividends and to repurchase and retire treasury shares exceeding 1% of market capitalization, both the predictability and scope of shareholder returns have been expanded."
Moreover, SK Inc. aims to improve its return on equity (ROE) to around 10% through fundamental competitiveness enhancement efforts being promoted at the group level. SK Inc. supports operational efficiency improvements such as subsidiary business model innovation, product and technology differentiation, and process innovation. It also plans to secure resources for future growth investments in AI (artificial intelligence), integrated energy solutions, and other areas through active asset securitization, thereby drastically improving its financial structure.
This year, SK Inc. expects the integration of SK Innovation and SK E&S, the integration of SK Ecoplant, SK Materials Airplus, and ESSENCORE, and is also proceeding with the sale of SK Specialty.
SK Inc. also set a goal to achieve a price-to-book ratio (PBR) of around 1.0 times after 2027, which is twice the average PBR (0.5 times) of domestic holding companies over the past five years.
An SK Inc. official stated, "We have incorporated the corporate value enhancement plan as concretely as possible into the value-up plan. We will actively listen to shareholders’ opinions and share performance to achieve corporate value that exceeds market expectations."
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