[Edaily Reporter JAEMIN SONG ] SK hynix has completed a share buyback worth approximately 40 trillion won and plans to cancel all of the shares on the 5th of next month. This marks the conclusion of the share buyback and cancellation plan decided last August, and the company expects it to enhance shareholder value by reducing the number of outstanding shares.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service’s electronic disclosure system on the 26th, SK hynix acquired 23,693,272 common shares from August 20 to the 21st of this month for a total of 40.0433906 trillion won. The average acquisition price per share was 1,688,426 won, meaning the company has effectively spent the entire originally planned acquisition amount of 40.0434 trillion won. The purchases were conducted on the open market through SKSecurities.

SK hynix announced today in a revised disclosure regarding its decision to cancel shares that it plans to cancel all 23,693,272 acquired treasury shares on the 5th of next month. The shares to be canceled represent approximately 3.24% of the total number of outstanding shares, which stands at 730,492,365.

The number of shares originally scheduled for cancellation was 24,070,000, but it was adjusted to match the actual number acquired. The cancellation date, which had been undecided, was also finalized this time.

This cancellation will be carried out by canceling treasury shares acquired within the scope of distributable earnings. Consequently, the total number of issued shares will decrease to 706,789,093, but there will be no change in the company’s capital stock.

The cancellation of treasury stock has the effect of reducing the number of shares outstanding and thereby increasing the relative ownership stake of existing shareholders. Assuming the company’s net income remains the same, earnings per share (EPS) may also increase. In particular, canceling acquired treasury stock differs from simply acquiring it in that it eliminates the possibility of those shares re-entering the market in the future.

As a result of this cancellation, SKSQUARE—the largest shareholder—is expected to see its stake in SK hynix rise from the current 20.00% to approximately 20.67%. While the number of SK hynix shares held by SKSQUARE remains unchanged at 146.1 million, its ownership percentage increases as the total number of issued shares decreases.

Meanwhile, after completing this share buyback, SK hynix will hold a total of 25,319,041 treasury shares, representing 3.47% of the total issued shares. If the cancellation proceeds as scheduled, approximately 1.62 million treasury shares previously held will remain.