Brederode: Samsung lifts its quarterly dividend 12.3-fold while Alphabet issues shares

On 29 October, Samsung set its third-quarter dividend at KRW 4,601 per share, 12.3 times the second quarter's, while Alphabet issues shares. For Brederode, which held 35,090 Samsung certificates at 30 June, this dividend would represent about €2.6m gross (Opulion calculation). Brederode's two largest listed technology holdings, 9.7% of its net asset value at 30 June, are thus allocating capital in opposite directions.

Why it matters for Brederode shareholders: at 30 June 2026, Brederode held 35,090 Samsung certificates listed in London, a holding of €166.00m, 3.66% of its net asset value of €4,531.77m (Opulion calculation, half-year release, p. 5 and 14). If it still held them on 30 September, the 877,250 underlying shares would bring it about KRW 4,036m gross, or about €2.6m, €0.09 per Brederode share, before Korean withholding tax and depositary fees (Opulion calculation, on the 29,305,586 shares at 30 June, p. 3). The euro amount will depend on the exchange rate at payment. Our analysis of 30 October showed the opposite movement at Alphabet, its largest listed holding: no share buybacks in nine months, $42.9bn raised by issuing common stock (net proceeds), and a quarterly dividend of $0.22 that would bring Brederode about $0.19m gross (Opulion calculation: 883,611 Class C shares at 30 June × $0.22, if it still held them at the 7 December record date). Brederode's two largest listed technology holdings, 9.7% of its net asset value at 30 June (Opulion calculation: €274.01m for Alphabet plus €166.00m for Samsung, divided by €4,531.77m), are allocating capital in opposite directions: one returns cash, the other raises it.

Brederode does not hold the Korean shares themselves, but depositary certificates (GDRs) listed in London: a depositary bank, Citibank, holds the shares and passes the dividend on to holders. One certificate represents 25 common shares (depositary notice of 19 April 2018). The third-quarter dividend changes scale. Samsung paid KRW 372 per share for the first quarter and KRW 374 for the second. It will pay KRW 4,601 for the third (notices of 30 April, 30 July and 29 October 2026). This dividend follows record third-quarter operating profit of KRW 107,400bn, which our article of 8 October put on Brederode's scale.

The three dividends declared for 2026 add up, as a cumulative announced amount, to KRW 34,912.2bn (Opulion calculation: 2,453.3 + 2,455.9 + 30,003.0), of which KRW 4,909.2bn was paid at the end of May and the end of August and KRW 30,003.0bn is to be paid on 27 November. That is close to the KRW 35,000bn Samsung describes as 'already planned or completed' out of estimated returns of KRW 90,000bn to 110,000bn for the year. Opulion hypothesis: these KRW 35,000bn are mostly the three dividends. According to Samsung, the balance of KRW 55,000bn to 75,000bn will include a substantial share repurchase and cancellation programme, along with cash dividends. A share bought back and cancelled disappears: each remaining share represents a slightly larger part of the company, including those Brederode holds if it keeps them.

For Brederode shareholders, three tests will come in order. On 27 November, Samsung will pay its third-quarter dividend, which the depositary will pass on to certificate holders. On 10 December, Brederode's interim statement may show whether the holding has changed since 30 June, and therefore what it will receive. At the end of January 2027, Samsung's board will set the amount and form of the 2026 balance, and with it the share of buybacks, on which the fraction of Samsung each of Brederode's certificates represents will depend.