Cash dividends from KOSPI-listed companies hit a record high last year on the back of a buoyant Korean stock market, data showed. However, the dividend payout ratio declined as net profit increased amid a recovery in the semiconductor industry.
According to the Korea Listed Companies Association on Thursday, 569 of 797 securities market-listed companies with December fiscal year-ends (71.4%) paid cash dividends last year, with total interim and year-end cash dividends reaching 52.8 trillion won. This marks a 15.9% increase from a year earlier and a record high. Compared with 21.8 trillion won in 2016, a decade ago, the figure has grown 2.4-fold.
The timing of dividend payments is also gradually diversifying. The number of companies paying interim dividends rose from 72 in 2023 to 84 in 2024 and 107 last year. Interim dividend volume likewise expanded steadily over the same period, from 13.7 trillion won to 15.5 trillion won in 2024 and 17.7 trillion won last year.
By sector, the electrical and electronics industry recorded the highest average cash dividend per company at 365.3 billion won. It was followed by telecommunications (308.1 billion won) and finance (213.3 billion won).
By contrast, the food, beverage and tobacco industry had the highest payout ratio at 119.6%, followed by paper and wood (100.7%), non-metals (92.8%) and metals (90.1%). The electricity and gas (14.4%) and electrical and electronics (18.0%) industries recorded relatively low levels.
The overall payout ratio of KOSPI-listed companies stood at 31.1%, down 3.6 percentage points from 34.7% a year earlier. This was largely due to the increase in net profit stemming from the recovery in the semiconductor industry. In fact, excluding Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, the payout ratio was 42.3%, up 4.3 percentage points from 38.1% a year earlier.
Shareholder-friendly policies are also spreading. The number of companies that changed their dividend record date from the fiscal year-end to another point reached 288, accounting for 50.6% of all dividend-paying companies and surpassing half for the first time. As a result, an environment in which investors can decide whether to invest after confirming the dividend amount is gradually taking hold, observers say.
The number of companies disclosing corporate value enhancement plans (Value-Up) also increased significantly. Firms that disclosed such plans last year totaled 329, more than triple the 100 from the previous year. These companies' average cash dividend stood at 147.4 billion won, 8.3 times higher than that of non-disclosing companies. High-dividend disclosure companies numbered 280, accounting for 49.2% of all dividend-paying companies (569).
