On the 21st, LG Uplus announced that it held the ’28th Annual Shareholders Meeting’ at its Yongsan headquarters in Seoul. During the 28th Annual Shareholders Meeting, resolutions were made regarding ▲ Reappointment of internal directors ▲ Approval of amendment to the articles of incorporation ▲ Reappointment of outside directors to the Audit Committee ▲ Approval of financial statements ▲ Approval of the limit on director’s remuneration.
First, Hwang Hyun-sik, President of LG Uplus, was reappointed as an internal director. Since taking office as CEO of LG Uplus in November 2020, Hwang has been recognized for achieving the lowest churn rate in history, strengthening shareholder returns, and establishing new business strategies in areas such as AI and platforms, which led to his reappointment as CEO last November.
During the 28th shareholders meeting, President Hwang stated, “Last year, amidst rapid changes in the management environment, LG Uplus flexibly and swiftly expanded its business, continuing its transition to a digital innovation company and the expansion of platform business.”
He reiterated his determination regarding the three main strategies this year: CX (Customer Experience) · DX (Digital Experience) · Platform. Hwang emphasized, “This year, LG Uplus will strengthen its digital innovation capabilities to become a customer-centric company and expand its platform business based on this,” adding that “the entire company will focus all its capabilities to move forward powerfully and rapidly.”
Hwang also shared, “We believe that the success of customer experience innovation and platform business is entirely dependent on DX capabilities, and we will expand business performance based on AI and data,” adding, “In particular, we will utilize the AI brand ixigen (ixi-GEN), which is being developed under our in-house brand ixi, as the core of our AI business.”
Additionally, the amendment to the articles of incorporation regarding the dividend announcement was also passed. Consequently, LG Uplus will now set a dividend record date after the dividend amount is confirmed. Until now, the record dates have been set for the year-end dividend on December 31 and the interim dividend on June 30, forcing investors to invest without knowing the dividend amount. The revised dividend policy will take effect from the 2024 fiscal year, and the interim and year-end dividend record dates will be announced via public disclosure following a board resolution. This amendment is expected to enhance the predictability of dividends for shareholders.
At this shareholders meeting, Professor Kim Jong-woo from Hanyang University was appointed as an ‘outside director to the Audit Committee.’ Professor Kim is a data business expert with a background including positions as a director of the Korean Data Mining Association, president of the Korean Intelligent Information Systems Society, and president of the Korean Operations Research and Management Science Society. His expertise and experience in the field are anticipated to contribute to LG Uplus’s vision achievement and the advancement of AI and data business.
Meanwhile, the shareholders meeting also approved the financial statements and dividends for the year 2023. The financial statements reported a revenue of 14.3726 trillion won, operating profit of 998 billion won, and net profit of 630.2 billion won for 2023. The ordinary dividend was confirmed to be 400 won per share in cash. Including the interim dividend of 250 won, the total dividend per share is 650 won. The dividend payout ratio increased by 1.0 percentage points from 42.2% the previous year to 43.2%, with an annual dividend yield of 6.2%.
By Lee Sang-jin daedusj@autodiary.kr