The Korea Exchange is set to publish its first list of low price-to-book ratio (PBR) companies on November 2, as disclosures of Corporate Value Enhancement Plans by South Korean listed companies continue to spread rapidly. Cumulative disclosing companies reached 764 through last month, with their combined market capitalization accounting for 84.0% of the entire South Korean stock market.

According to the “September Monthly Corporate Value Enhancement Status” released by the Korea Exchange on the 6th, 358 KOSPI-listed companies and 406 KOSDAQ-listed companies have submitted Corporate Value Enhancement Plans since the disclosure system launched in May 2024. Four companies that were delisted due to mergers were excluded from the tally.

Eight companies newly joined the disclosure program last month: Korea Asset Trust (123890), DY A (002880), Woojin I&S (010400), Hyosung O&B (097870), Episode Company (317530), Tobox Korea (215480), Seah Steel Holdings (003030), and Embrain (169330). Among them, Woojin I&S filed its first value-up plan, including a PBR improvement plan, on the 30th of last month.

Market Cap Share and Low-PBR Publication Schedule

The total market capitalization of value-up disclosing companies stood at 5,139.8 trillion won (approximately $3.8 trillion). KOSPI disclosing companies accounted for 4,985.2 trillion won (approximately $3.7 trillion), representing 88.4% of the KOSPI market, while KOSDAQ disclosing companies totaled 154.6 trillion won (approximately $115.1 billion), or 32.1% of the KOSDAQ market. By company count, 43.1% of KOSPI-listed companies and 23.2% of KOSDAQ-listed companies have participated in value-up disclosures.

The Korea Exchange will publish the low-PBR company list for the first time on November 2. The criteria target companies whose PBR has ranked in the bottom 25% of the KOSPI or bottom 10% of the KOSDAQ for six consecutive half-year periods, by market and industry. However, companies that file a Corporate Value Enhancement Plan containing a PBR improvement plan by October 22 can defer publication for one year. As a result, last-minute disclosures are expected from listed companies that may fall under the low-PBR criteria.

Periodic Disclosures and Expanded Shareholder Returns

Periodic disclosures that review the implementation status of existing plans have also expanded. Last month, four companies — BNK Financial Group, Uni Techno, Pulmuone, and DK&D — submitted disclosures containing implementation assessments, bringing the cumulative number of participating companies to 126.

Among high-dividend companies, 638 have submitted Corporate Value Enhancement Plans. Of these, 546 are new disclosing companies and 92 are existing disclosers. Last month, four companies with June fiscal year-ends — Forcsys (189690), Manho Steel (001080), Hyosung O&B, and Embrain — disclosed that they qualify as high-dividend companies. YMC (155650), Samyang Packaging (272550), Woojin Plaimm (049800), and G2Power (388050) followed up their abbreviated disclosures with more detailed Corporate Value Enhancement Plans.

Shareholder returns through share buybacks and cancellations also continued. KT&G (033780) decided last month to buy back and cancel 360 billion won (approximately $268.1 million) worth of treasury shares. Celltrion (068270) decided on a 100 billion won (approximately $74.5 million) buyback and a 96 billion won (approximately $71.5 million) cancellation, while Cheil Worldwide (030000) decided on a 40 billion won (approximately $29.8 million) buyback and a 283 billion won (approximately $210.8 million) cancellation.

Shareholder returns by South Korean listed companies have been steadily increasing over the past three years. Treasury share purchases grew from 8.2 trillion won (approximately $6.1 billion) in 2023 to 18.8 trillion won (approximately $14.0 billion) in 2024 and 20.1 trillion won (approximately $15.0 billion) in 2025. Over the same period, treasury share cancellations increased from 4.8 trillion won (approximately $3.6 billion) to 13.9 trillion won (approximately $10.4 billion) and 21.4 trillion won (approximately $15.9 billion). Cash dividends also expanded from 43.1 trillion won (approximately $32.1 billion) in 2023 to 45.8 trillion won (approximately $34.1 billion) in 2024 and 50.9 trillion won (approximately $37.9 billion) in 2025.

The following table summarizes the shareholder return trends of listed companies over the past three years.

Category202320242025Treasury share purchases8.2 trillion won18.8 trillion won20.1 trillion wonTreasury share cancellations4.8 trillion won13.9 trillion won21.4 trillion wonCash dividends43.1 trillion won45.8 trillion won50.9 trillion won

Note: Based on Korea Exchange data.

Value-Up Index and ETF Performance

The Korea Value-Up Index closed at 3,228.34 points at the end of last month, up 79.6% from the end of last year. This outperformed the KOSPI’s 62.3% gain and the KOSPI 200’s 78.5% rise over the same period by 17.3 percentage points and 1.1 percentage points, respectively.

Total net assets of 13 value-up exchange-traded funds (ETFs) stood at 3.6 trillion won (approximately $2.7 billion) as of the end of September, up 640.3% from their initial launches. This suggests that investment demand related to value-up themes has grown rapidly alongside the index’s rise.

Meanwhile, as of the end of September, three companies — Hancom (030520), SJG Sejong (033530), and NBT (236810) — have filed preliminary notices for Corporate Value Enhancement Plans. They are expected to join the ranks of value-up disclosing companies through formal disclosures in the future.