Samsung says considering stock split

AP FILE PHOTO

SEOUL — Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest smartphone maker, said on Tuesday 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 told reporters.

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 percent to close Tuesday at 1.372 million won ($1,260) — although that is still way off a high of 1.470 million won in June last year.

Samsung is currently in the middle of a $2.0 billion share buyback process announced in November to appease disgruntled shareholders.

With a market capitalisation of about $185 billion, Samsung accounts for nearly 17 percent of the weighting on South Korea’s benchmark Kospi composite index.