Kakao founder Kim Beom-su, right, and Kakao CEO nominee Namkoong Whon pose at the company's office in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday, before participating in a meeting with Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum. Joint press corps.

By Park Jae-hyuk

Kakao is still facing calls from retail investors to take more drastic measures to enhance shareholder value, in spite of its latest efforts to restore trust in the company.

The tech firm came up with its first-ever shareholder return policies, Friday, while announcing that its 2021 sales rose 48 percent year-on-year to a record 6.1 trillion won ($5 billion) and that its annual operating profit had reached 596.9 billion won, up 31 percent from the previous year.

Kakao said it will retire 300 billion won worth of treasury stocks by the end of this year and give 53 won in cash dividends per stock to shareholders.

The shareholder-friendly measures were announced a day after Kakao CEO nominee Namkoong Whon promised that he will only get paid the legal minimum wage until his company's stock price bounces back to 150,000 won.

"I will do my best for Kakao to win the hearts of our society, shareholders and employees again," Namkoong wrote on Facebook.

The KOSPI-listed firm has shown a downward curve in its stock price since late last year reflecting dissatisfaction among shareholders after eight Kakao Pay executives abruptly sold a massive amount of their shares in the company shortly after it went public.

Outgoing CEO Yeo Min-soo also made an apology during Friday's conference call, as did Kakao founder Kim Beom-su, chairman of the company's board of directors, last month.

Although the series of efforts by Kakao raised its stock price by 5.04 percent to 91,700 won during Friday's trading session, minority shareholders expressed their dissatisfaction with the amount of dividends.

"I could not believe my eyes when reading Kakao's announcement," one investor wrote online.

The minority shareholders also leveled criticism at the company's refusal to retract its ongoing attempts to list more subsidiaries, such as Kakao Mobility and Kakao Entertainment.

Kakao said earlier this year that it would "reconsider" the initial public offerings (IPOs) of its subsidiaries, but Chief Financial Officer Bae Jae-hyun dismissed the public criticism of the IPO plans, Friday, hinting at the company's intention to list the subsidiaries as planned.

"Instead of spinning off lucrative businesses, Kakao has established its subsidiaries as separate entities or acquired them from other companies," Bae said during Friday's conference call. "The lPOs of our subsidiaries are therefore basically different from the controversial listings of some companies that were spun off from their parents."