The Korea Exchange announced on the 3rd that, based on cumulative data from last month, 756 companies have disclosed corporate valuation enhancement plans through its "Monthly Corporate Valuation Enhancement Status" report. This figure covers companies participating since the implementation of the disclosure requirement in May 2024 up to August this year. The exchange evaluated this as evidence of expanding shareholder engagement efforts.
Nine companies disclosed their corporate valuation enhancement plans in August alone: OSP (on the 3rd), E8 (on the 4th), Daewon Gangup (on the 6th), Shinsei Enji (on the 7th), Jin Young (on the 13th), Manhho Steel (on the 13th), Han Express (on the 14th), Kakao (on the 21st), and Dongwon Fisheries (on the 27th).
By market, 354 companies were from KOSPI and 402 from KOSDAQ. These companies account for 83.4% of total market capitalization in the market. Focusing solely on the KOSPI market, their share of market capitalization reached 87.7%.
Companies submitting periodic disclosures also increased by 11 in August alone, bringing the cumulative total to 124 companies. Periodic disclosure submitters include GS (on the 7th), Seoul Guarantee Insurance (on the 11th), Yeongwon Trade Holdings (on the 11th), Yeongwon Trade (on the 11th), KT (on the 12th), Meritz Financial Holdings (on the 12th), Kolmar Holdings (on the 18th), KCC (on the 20th), KG Inicis (on the 27th), DB Insurance (on the 28th), and DB Securities (on the 31st).
Among 633 companies classified as high-dividend payers, 542 submitted new disclosures. The remaining 91 had already disclosed their corporate valuation enhancement plans.
In August, SK Hynix announced a plan to acquire and retire its own shares worth 40 trillion won. Meritz Financial Holdings and Celltrion announced share buyback plans of 500 billion won and 100 billion won, respectively, while Hyundai Motor disclosed a plan to retire its own shares worth 789.1 billion won.
Regarding cash dividends, major listed companies including SK Hynix (270 billion won) and KT&G (210 billion won) announced decisions on cash dividend payments. Samsung Electronics disclosed a shareholder return plan for this year ranging from 90 trillion to 110 trillion won, including a third-quarter cash dividend of 30 trillion won.
Meanwhile, the value-up program index closed at 3,240.84 points as of the regular market close on the 31st of last month, representing an 80.3% increase compared to the end of the previous month (1,797.52 points). The rise in the value-up program index outpaced both the KOSPI index gain (61.8%) and the KOSPI 200 index gain (76.9%) over the same period. The total net asset value of 13 value-up program ETFs reached 3.5 trillion won at the end of last month.
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