Online game developer NCSoft plans to spend a whopping 60 billion won ($51 million) for dividend payouts to shareholders.

The company said in its regulatory filing Wednesday that it would pay its shareholders a cash dividend of 2,747 won per share, which amounts to 60 billion won. Around 219 million shares are eligible for dividend payment.
 
The firm’s dividend payout this year is 12 percent lower than 69 billion won granted to shareholders last year, but is the second largest since its establishment in 1997.

“The decision is aimed at enhancing the value of the firm’s shareholders,” an NCSoft official said.

The game firm’s chief executive Kim Taek-jin will receive 7.2 billion won in dividends this year, compared to 7.5 billion won last year.

The CEO is the firm’s largest shareholder with 2.6 million shares, or 12 percent of the entire shares.

The company also announced in the regulatory filing that it would buy back 680,000 of its listed shares, worth 151 billion won, by March 9.

NCSoft, which broke its partnership with game developing firm Nexon this year, has been shifting its focus to mobile games from PC games.

It has unveiled the mobile version of its online role-playing game “Lineage,” dubbed “Project L,” and mobile game “Project Red Knights,” both of which are expected to be launched next year.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)