By Kim Han-joo

SEOUL, Aug. 21 (Yonhap) -- Samsung Electronics Co. is poised to return at least 100 trillion won (US$72.4 billion) to shareholders, industry sources said Friday, 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.

Samsung Electronics' second-quarter net profit jumped nearly 1,300 percent to 90 trillion won from a year earlier, on the back of strong demand for semiconductors linked to AI.

With expectations running high, shares of Samsung Electronics rose nearly 3 percent on the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) as of 1 p.m.

The expected move follows SK hynix's announcement of its shareholder-return policy earlier this week to buy back 24.07 million common shares worth 40 trillion won.

This is part of SK hynix's earlier plan to return up to 50 percent of its cumulative free cash flow generated over the three-year period from 2025 to 2027.

khj@yna.co.kr

(END)

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