South Korean companies whose fiscal year ended in December paid a total of 13.6 trillion won ($12.7 billion) in dividends to shareholders, the Korea Securities Depository said Sunday.

The agency said the total takes into account the 892 companies listed on the country's various stock exchanges.

It said the 465 companies listed on the KOSPI, the country's main bourse, paid a little over 12.7 trillion won in dividends to their shareholders, while numbers for the 419 businesses on the tech-heavy KOSDAQ exchange stood at 848.6 billion won. For the eight small and medium companies traded on the KONEX, the size of dividends reached 2.2 billion won.

Compared with the 2012 fiscal year, the number of companies that handed out dividends rose by eight, with the amount increasing by 938.6 billion won.

KSD said that Shell Korea paid 18,000 won in dividends for each share, making it No. 1 among KOSPI-listed companies. This was followed by 13,800 won for Samsung Electronics Co. and 8,400 won for SK Telecom.

Among KOSDAQ firms, GS Home Shopping ranked No. 1 by paying 3,500 won per share.

Overall, Samsung Electronics, the world's largest mobile phone manufacturer, paid just under 2.35 trillion won in dividend payments last year, making up 18.4 percent of the total. (Yonhap)