Corporate value-up plan disclosures surged in March, driven primarily by high-dividend companies. As tax incentives prompted a wave of listed firms to participate at once, the total number of companies filing value-up disclosures swelled to 590.
According to the "Monthly Corporate Value Enhancement Status" report released by Korea Exchange (KRX) on Monday, 409 companies newly filed corporate value-up plans in March. Of those, 405 were classified as high-dividend companies. High-dividend companies generally refer to listed firms with a dividend payout ratio of 40% or above, or those with a payout ratio of 25% or above that increased dividends by 10% or more from the previous year. The surge is attributed to high-dividend companies filing en masse to qualify for tax benefits under amendments to the Restriction of Special Taxation Act and its enforcement decree.
Since the corporate value-up disclosure system took effect in May 2024 through March this year, a total of 590 companies have participated — 587 with full disclosures and three with preliminary disclosures. These filings require listed companies to publicly disclose shareholder value enhancement measures such as improving price-to-book ratio (PBR), expanding dividends, canceling treasury shares, and boosting profitability. During the same period, 84 companies also submitted periodic disclosures that include compliance assessments of previous filings. In March alone, 28 companies including Kumho Petrochemical and S-Oil filed periodic disclosures.
By market, as of end-March, full disclosure filings came from 305 KOSPI-listed companies and 282 KOSDAQ-listed companies. The combined market capitalization of these filing companies totaled 3,423.4 trillion won, accounting for 72.2% of total market capitalization. KOSPI filers alone represented 79.2% of the KOSPI's total market capitalization.
High-dividend company disclosures spread rapidly to KOSDAQ as well. As of April 3, a total of 528 high-dividend companies had submitted corporate value-up plans. Among them, 444 were new filers and 84 were existing filers. Looking at new filers only, KOSDAQ led with 261 companies compared to 183 on KOSPI. Observers note that the value-up culture is spreading as even small- and mid-cap listed companies actively participate in shareholder return policies.
Shareholder returns also accelerated. Driven by mandatory treasury share cancellation under revisions to the Commercial Act, 99 companies disclosed treasury share cancellations in March. Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) decided to purchase 7.2 trillion won worth of treasury shares and cancel 5.3 trillion won worth. SK (034730.KS) and Celltrion (068270.KS) also proceeded with cancellations worth 4.8 trillion won and 1.7 trillion won, respectively.
Capital also flowed into the Value-Up Index and related products. The Value-Up Index closed at 2,248.59 points on March 31, up 126.6% from its inception date. That outpaced the KOSPI's gain over the same period by 31.8 percentage points. The combined net asset value of 13 Value-Up exchange-traded funds (ETFs) reached 2.6 trillion won at end-March, a 439.4% increase from their initial launch.
"We plan to provide value-up disclosure consulting starting late April to help listed companies prepare their corporate value enhancement plans smoothly," a KRX official said. "Given that this year's high-dividend company disclosures were submitted in simplified form as it is the first year of implementation, fully comprehensive disclosures covering status diagnosis, target setting, plan formulation, compliance assessment, and communication will be required from next year."
