Samsung to Investors: In Turmoil, We’ll Keep the Money, co-CEO Kwon said the company needed to keep its powder dry to invest more in R&D, as well as marketing, as new tech trends emerge

Mar 14, 2014

Samsung to Investors: In Turmoil, We’ll Keep the Money

JONATHAN CHENG

Samsung Electronics005930.SE -1.16% co-CEO Kwon Oh-hyun wants to return more of the company’s $50 billion cash pile to investors.

But he says he can’t.

Where some shareholders see a dominant technology giant sitting atop one of the world’s biggest corporate cash hoards, Kwon sees the cash as a critical bulwark in a fast-changing, unpredictable global technology industry he says is “in turmoil.”

Defending a dividend increase that left many investors cold, Kwon said at the company’s annual general shareholder’s meeting on Friday that Samsung needed to be prudent with its growing cash pile.

During the efficient 41-minute meeting at Samsung’s Seoul offices, shareholders formally approved its 2013 dividend of 14,300 Korean won ($13.35) per common share.

While the dividend marks an increase of about 79% from the previous year, the company’s dividend remains relatively small compared to its peers by some metrics.

When Samsung first announced the dividend increase at its “analyst day” meeting on Nov. 6, attendees publicly groused about what they considered a paltry increase. Samsung shares fell that day and by the end of the year had slid 7.6% from where they stood before the announcement.

On Friday, Kwon acknowledged dissatisfaction among some investors in the company’s dividend, but said that executives didn’t want to be overly focused on dividends in the short term. “In order to have better dividends in the future, we need to have sustained growth,” he said.

In order to do that, Kwon said the company needed to keep its powder dry to invest more in research and development, as well as marketing, as new tech trends emerge.

Kwon also highlighted the threat of rising Chinese competition, as well as rejuvenated Japanese rivals amid Tokyo’s attempts to weaken its yen and bolster exports.

“Some of the companies that we thought were too big to fail are now struggling through difficulties,” Kwon said, citing global macroeconomic uncertainties and cutthroat competition as powerful forces in the industry.

Kwon’s argument will be familiar to many shareholders. The company made a similar case during the November analyst day, its first such event in eight years, arguing that the company needed its cash for acquisitions and as insurance against tougher times.

At the time, executives also said they planned to thoroughly review the company’s shareholder return policy, including buybacks and dividends, this year.

On Friday, Samsung shares finished the day down 1.2%, outpacing the broader market’s 0.8% pullback. Samsung shares are off 7.1% this year, compared to the Kospi’s 4.5% decline.