The Korea Exchange announced on the 3rd that the number of listed companies that have completed corporate value enhancement plan disclosures has risen to 756. The combined market capitalization of these companies reached 83.4% of the entire South Korean stock market, demonstrating that the program has spread across the market in just over two years since its implementation.

Last month saw a wave of large-scale shareholder return announcements, led primarily by large-cap stocks. South Korea’s SK Hynix (000660.KS) decided to acquire and fully cancel 40 trillion won (approximately $29.4 billion) worth of treasury shares. South Korea’s Meritz Financial Group (138040.KS) and South Korea’s Celltrion (068270.KS) announced share buyback plans of 500 billion won (approximately $367.9 million) and 100 billion won (approximately $73.6 million), respectively, while South Korea’s Hyundai Motor (005380.KS) decided to cancel 789.1 billion won (approximately $580.7 million) worth of treasury shares.

Cash dividend announcements also followed in succession. SK Hynix decided on a dividend of approximately 270 billion won (approximately $198.7 million), and South Korea’s KT&G (033780.KS) approved a dividend of approximately 210 billion won (approximately $154.5 million). South Korea’s Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) disclosed a shareholder return plan totaling 90 trillion to 110 trillion won (approximately $80.9 billion) for this year, including a 30 trillion won (approximately $22.1 billion) cash dividend in the third quarter.

The overall shareholder return scale of listed companies has also been steadily increasing over the past three years. Treasury share acquisition amounts grew from 8.2 trillion won (approximately $6.0 billion) in 2023 to 20.1 trillion won (approximately $14.8 billion) last year, while treasury share cancellation amounts surged from 4.8 trillion won (approximately $3.5 billion) to 21.4 trillion won (approximately $15.7 billion) over the same period. Cash dividends also expanded from 43.1 trillion won (approximately $31.7 billion) to 50.9 trillion won (approximately $37.5 billion).

Participation in corporate value enhancement plan disclosures has continued to grow since the program launched in May 2024. In August alone, nine companies submitted new disclosures: OSP, E8, Daewon Kangup, Shinsung E&G, Jinyoung, Manho Steel, Hanil Express, South Korea’s Kakao (035720.KS), and Dongwon Fisheries. An additional 11 companies submitted periodic disclosures containing implementation assessments of existing plans, bringing the cumulative total to 124.

The total market capitalization of disclosing companies was tallied at 5,074.4 trillion won (approximately $3.7 trillion). Among them, 354 KOSPI-listed companies accounted for 4,926.8 trillion won (approximately $3.6 trillion), representing 87.7% of the entire KOSPI market, while 402 KOSDAQ-listed companies totaled 147.6 trillion won (approximately $108.6 billion), equivalent to 31.7% of the KOSDAQ market.

Among high-dividend companies, a total of 633 have submitted corporate value enhancement plans, of which 542 are new disclosing companies and 91 are existing disclosing companies.

Value-Up related investment indicators also showed strength. The Korea Value-Up Index closed at 3,240.84 points on the 31st of last month, up 80.3% year-to-date. This outperformed the KOSPI’s gain of 61.8% over the same period by 18.5 percentage points, and was also 3.4 percentage points higher than the KOSPI 200’s gain of 76.9%.

The combined net asset value of 13 Value-Up exchange-traded funds (ETFs) stood at 3.5 trillion won (approximately $2.6 billion) as of the end of August, up 618.2% from their initial launch.

To support the expansion of disclosures, the Korea Exchange will hold on-site briefing sessions for listed companies on corporate value enhancement starting on the 11th in six regions: Seoul, Daegu, Busan, Pangyo, Daejeon, and Gwangju. It also plans to conduct small-group roundtable sessions targeting high-dividend, low-PBR, and special-listing companies to explain program improvements and preparation requirements.