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| ▲ In this photo taken on Jan. 7, 2026, the closing benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index is displayed on a screen inside the lobby of the Korea Exchange, South Korea's main bourse operator. (Yonhap) |
share buybacks-value-up initiative
Share buybacks, retirements more than double since value-up initiative: KRX
SEOUL, Jan. 8 (Yonhap) -- Corporate share buybacks or cancellations more than doubled over the past two years since the introduction of the government's corporate value-up initiative, industry data showed Thursday.
South Korean companies bought back a total of 20.1 trillion won (USD$13.9 billion) worth of equities and retired 21.4 trillion won worth of shares last year, according to the data provided by the Korea Exchange (KRX).
The figures both represent over twofold gains compared to 2023, when the combined value of stock buybacks recorded 8.2 trillion won and that of stocks retired stood at 4.8 trillion won.
Compared to 2024, the combined value of stocks repurchased rose by 6.9 percent and that of stocks retired advanced 54 percent.
The government introduced the corporate value-up program in 2024 to boost the local stock market by promising tax incentives to companies that voluntarily make efforts to increase shareholder value.
Meanwhile, total cash dividends last year increased to 50.9 trillion won, up 11.1 percent on-year.
Dividend payments had gradually increased from 43.1 trillion won in 2023 to 45.8 trillion won in 2024, KRX data showed.
Net assets in exchange-traded funds tracking the value-up index rose as well by 162.5 percent to 1.3 trillion won.
"We are seeing an easing of the so-called Korea Discount, with major stock market indexes, including the PER (price-to-earnings ratio) and PBR (price-to-book ratio), showing great improvements compared to 2024," the bourse operator said.
As of end-December, the PBR of the MSCI Korea Index was 1.59 times, while the PER of the index was 17.47 times, according to the KRX.
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