Lee Jae-hyun Of CJ To Receive 41 Billion Won... Retail Group Owners All Smiles In The Era Of Shareholder Returns

CJ Raises Dividend by 300 Won per Share, Lotte Corporation by 50 Won
Lee Jae-hyun to Receive 41.0 Billion Won, Shin Dong-bin 29.7 Billion Won

Emart Ups Dividend by 500 Won, Shinsegae by 700 Won
Hyundai GF Holdings Also Adds 90 Won

As companies strengthen their shareholder return policies, major retail group owners such as CJ Group Chairman Lee Jae-hyun, Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin, Shinsegae Group Chairman Chung Yong-jin, and Hyundai Department Store Group Chairman Chung Ji-sun are also expected to see the amount of dividends they receive as their "13th month salary" increase by several billions of won each.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system on the 26th, Chairman Lee will receive approximately 41 billion won in total dividends: about 40.5 billion won from holding company CJ, 430 million won from CJ CheilJedang, and 35 million won from CJ Freshway. This is an increase of nearly 4 billion won from the 37.3 billion won he received last year from these three companies.

Chairman Lee holds 12,275,574 common shares (42.07%) of CJ, making the dividend from CJ the largest portion of his payout. As CJ raised its dividend by 300 won year-on-year to 3,300 won per share last year, the amount he will receive has also increased. CJ Freshway likewise raised its per-share dividend from 450 won to 500 won.

Chairman Shin is expected to receive around 29.74 billion won in dividends from four listed affiliates: Lotte Corporation, Lotte Shopping, Lotte Wellfood, and Lotte Chilsung Beverage. The largest contribution comes from Lotte Corporation, which raised its common-share dividend to 1,250 won per share (from 1,200 won a year earlier), increasing Chairman Shin's holding-company dividend income to a little over 17.21 billion won. Adding dividends from Lotte Shopping (about 11.57 billion won), Lotte Wellfood (a little over 600 million won), and Lotte Chilsung Beverage (about 360 million won), his total dividend income will increase by around 1.2 billion won from 28.48 billion won last year.

Chairman Chung Yong-jin will receive about 19.9 billion won in dividends after he purchased a 10% stake in Emart from his mother, Chairwoman Lee Myung-hee, last year, bringing his total ownership in the company to 28.85%. This represents an increase of about 4 billion won compared with the roughly 15.9 billion won he received last year. The rise is the result of Emart's plan to strengthen shareholder returns by raising its minimum dividend payout ratio by 25%, which pushed the per-share dividend up from 2,000 won to 2,500 won.

Chung Yoo-kyung, chairwoman of Shinsegae, which operates Shinsegae Department Store, will receive a total of about 16.78 billion won in dividends from Shinsegae and Shinsegae International combined. Chairwoman Chung's stake increased by more than 10 percentage points after she received shares as a gift from Chairwoman Lee Myung-hee. In addition, Shinsegae raised its per-share dividend from 4,500 won to 5,200 won, boosting her total dividend income by more than 60% from 10.38 billion won a year earlier.

In addition, Hyundai Department Store Group Chairman Chung Ji-sun will receive about 19.44 billion won in total dividends from Hyundai Department Store and Hyundai GF Holdings. As holding company Hyundai GF Holdings increased its annual dividend from 210 won to 300 won per share, his total dividend income rose by nearly 6 billion won from 13.6 billion won last year. The final dividend amounts at these companies will be confirmed after each firm's general meeting of shareholders.