SEOUL, Aug. 6 (Yonhap) -- A total of 90 listed firms decided to spend 7.4 trillion won (US$5.2 billion) in cash dividends last month, data showed Thursday, as part of their efforts to boost shareholder returns.

Top-cap Samsung Electronics Co. announced cash dividend payouts of 2.5 trillion won in July, followed by leading automaker Hyundai Motor Co. with 700 billion won, according to the data by the Korea Exchange.

Also, more listed firms, led by financial holding firms, decided to retire their own stocks in July, the latest findings showed.

Shinhan Financial Group and KB Financial Group announced their plans last month to buy back about 700 billion won worth of their own shares each and cancel them, the bourse operator said.

Big-cap companies have expanded their dividends in keeping with growing demand for more payouts and government policies that have been pushing to enhance the rights of shareholders, market watchers said.

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