Investing.com - The world's largest smartphone maker, Samsung Electronics Co (KS:005930), said 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. Samsung shares were trading Tuesday at 1.356 million won ($1,250)compared to a high of 1.470 million won in June last year.
Samsung is currently in the middle of a US$2.0 billion share buyback process announced in November to appease disgruntled shareholders. With a market capitalization of about $185 billion, Samsung accounts for nearly 17 per cent of the weighting on South Korea's benchmark Kospi composite index.