AFP/Seoul
Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest smartphone maker, said yesterday it was considering a stock split that would placate
existing investors and attract new ones with a more affordable share price.
Head of investor relations Robert Yi said the South Korean tech giant had been looking into a possible split “for a while” but
was still debating the benefits of such a move.
“We know it would have a psychological impact, but need to look further at how that might affect the company’s long-term value,”
Yi said.
Samsung has been under growing pressure to boost shareholder returns as its stock price has been battered by a series of
quarterly profit falls.
Yi’s remarks saw Samsung’s share price jump 2.16% to close yesterday at 1.372mn won ($1,260) – although that is still way off a
high of 1.470mn won in June last year.
Samsung is currently in the middle of a $2bn share buyback process announced in November to appease disgruntled shareholders.
With a market capitalisation of about $185bn, Samsung accounts for nearly 17% of the weighting on South Korea’s benchmark Kospi
composite index.
Samsung Electronics said yesterday it was considering a stock split that would placate existing investors and attract new ones
with a more affordable share price.
