'28.5 Billion' Distribution Industry Owner Dividend King 2nd Place Shin Dong-bin... Who is 1st?

Lee Jaehyun, Chairman of CJ, to Receive 37.3 Billion Won in Dividends
Chung Yongjin's Dividend Increases After Acquiring Mother's Shares
Chung Youkyung to Receive 10.38 Billion Won
Chung Jisun's Dividend Expected to Remain at Last Year's Level of 14.3 Billion Won

As major domestic distribution conglomerates have successively disclosed their management performance reports for last year, the amount of dividends that owners will receive is also coming into focus. Key owners such as Lee Jae-hyun, Chairman of CJ Group; Shin Dong-bin, Chairman of Lotte; Chung Yong-jin, Chairman of Shinsegae Group; and Chung Ji-sun, Chairman of Hyundai Department Store Group have secured dividends worth hundreds of billions of won as a '13th month salary.'

According to the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system on the 12th, Chairman Lee will receive approximately 37.29 billion won in dividends from CJ Holdings (36.83 billion won), CJ CheilJedang (430 million won), and CJ Freshway (32 million won). This is about 30 million won more compared to the amount received from these three companies last year.

Chairman Lee holds 12,275,574 shares (42.07%) of CJ common stock, making the dividend amount he receives from here the largest. Accordingly, he has maintained the top position among distribution industry owners in dividend receipts for several years. CJ decided to pay dividends of 3,000 won per common share and 1,250 won per preferred share this year.

Chairman Shin will receive a total of approximately 28.48 billion won in dividends from Lotte Holdings (16.52 billion won), Lotte Shopping (10.99 billion won), Lotte Wellfood (600 million won), and Lotte Chilsung Beverage (360 million won). This amount is 12.5% less than the approximately 32.6 billion won he received last year. The decrease is due to Lotte Holdings reducing its dividend per share by 300 won this year. Lotte Holdings is paying dividends of 1,200 won per common share and 1,250 won per preferred share this year.

Chairman Chung Yong-jin will receive 15.9 billion won in dividends after completing the purchase of 10% of Emart shares held by his mother, Lee Myung-hee, the General Chairman. Emart set its dividend at 2,000 won per common share, the same as last year.

Chairman Chung currently holds 5,172,911 shares of Emart. Additionally, he plans to purchase 2,787,582 common shares (10.0%) held by General Chairman Lee by the 11th of next month. If the share acquisition is completed as planned, Chairman Chung's stake in Emart will increase from 18.56% to 28.56%.

The shareholders entitled to receive Emart dividends include existing shareholders and those who have newly purchased shares by March 31. The record date is April 2. Accordingly, Chairman Chung's dividend will increase from 10.3 billion won last year to 15.9 billion won.

Chairman Chung's younger sister, Chung Yoo-kyung, Chairwoman of Shinsegae Co., Ltd., will receive a total of 10.38 billion won in dividends, including 8.22 billion won from Shinsegae, which operates department stores, and 2.16 billion won from Shinsegae International. This is a 9.6% increase from 9.47 billion won last year. Shinsegae raised its dividend per common share from 4,000 won to 4,500 won, increasing the dividend amount.

Jung Ji-sun, Chairman of Hyundai Department Store Group. Photo by Hyundai Department Store

In addition, the dividend that Chairman Chung Ji-sun of Hyundai Department Store Group will receive is expected to be similar to last year's amount of approximately 14.3 billion won. Chairman Chung will receive about 570 million won in dividends through Hyundai Department Store's settlement. However, if Hyundai G.F. Holdings, the holding company in which Chairman Chung holds nearly 40% of shares, announces its dividend per share, his dividend amount is expected to increase significantly.

Hyundai G.F. Holdings will announce its dividend on the 14th. Chairman Chung holds approximately 61.847 million shares (39.7%) of Hyundai G.F. Holdings. Last year, Hyundai G.F. Holdings paid a dividend of 200 won per share to shareholders, and Chairman Chung received 12.4 billion won.