Seoul, Aug 30 (IANS) Corporate taxes paid by Samsung Electronics Co. and SK hynix Inc. totalled a combined 11.2 trillion won ($8.1 billion) in the first half of this year amid the recent semiconductor supercycle, financial data showed on Sunday.
Samsung Electronics paid 3.99 trillion won in corporate taxes and SK hynix paid 7.22 trillion won in the first half, according to data from the Repository of Korea’s Corporate Filings, operated by the Financial Supervisory Service.
The two companies’ combined corporate taxes jumped 167 percent from a year earlier, marking the second-highest first-half total on record, reports Yonhap news agency.
The figure followed the record 15.63 trillion won they paid in the first half of 2019, based on their record-high profits during a memory chip boom in 2018.
Generally, companies pay corporate taxes in March for the previous fiscal year that ends in December and in August for their interim first-half profits.
Market watchers expect the two companies’ corporate tax payments to increase further as Samsung Electronics and SK hynix posted first-half operating profits of 146.7 trillion won and 98.2 trillion won, respectively, compared with 11.4 trillion won and 16.7 trillion won the previous year.
In addition, the two companies are forecast to post annual operating profits of 385 trillion won and 266 trillion won, respectively, in 2026.
Meanwhile, Samsung is poised to return at least 100 trillion won (US$72.4 billion) to shareholders, industry sources said, following a similar announcement by its chipmaking rival SK hynix Inc. amid record earnings driven by the artificial intelligence (AI) boom.
The world’s largest memory chip maker is expected to announce what could be its largest-ever shareholder-return initiative at a board meeting as early as later Friday or next week, according to the sources.
It would mark the final year of Samsung Electronics’ three-year shareholder-return policy for 2024-26, which calls for returning 50 percent of its free cash flow to shareholders.
In particular, industry observers expect the company to return more than 100 trillion won through a special dividend, based on an estimated annual operating profit of 390 trillion won. The company may also buy back its own shares to fund special performance bonuses for employees.
—IANS
na/
