Listed companies in South Korea are stepping up disclosures of corporate value enhancement plans, known as value-up plans, ahead of the Korea Exchange's first release in November of a list of companies with low price-to-book ratios. A cumulative 764 companies have filed such plans, accounting for 84.0% of the combined market value of the domestic stock market.
According to the Korea Exchange's September monthly report on corporate value enhancement released on the 6th, 358 companies on the KOSPI and 406 on the KOSDAQ have published value enhancement plans since the disclosure system took effect in May 2024. Eight companies joined last month: Koreit (123890), DYA (002880), Woojin I&S (010400), Hyosung O&B (097870), Episode Company (317530), Toebox Korea (215480), SeAH Steel Holdings (003030) and Embrain (169330).
The exchange will publish its first list of low-PBR companies on Nov. 2. Companies qualify if their price-to-book ratio has ranked in the bottom 25% of the KOSPI or the bottom 10% of the KOSDAQ for six consecutive half-year periods, measured by market and sector. Companies can delay being named for one year if they file a value enhancement plan containing a PBR improvement plan by the 22nd of this month. Woojin I&S filed its first value-up plan, including a PBR improvement plan, on the 30th of last month.
Companies that have filed value-up plans had a combined market value of 5,139.8 trillion won. KOSPI-listed filers accounted for 4,985.2 trillion won, or 88.4% of the main board's total market value. KOSDAQ filers had a combined market value of 154.6 trillion won, a 32.1% share.
Periodic disclosures that review progress on existing plans also increased. Four companies — BNK Financial Group, Unitechno, Pulmuone and DK&D — submitted filings last month that included implementation assessments, bringing the cumulative total to 126 companies.
Among high-dividend companies, 638 have submitted value enhancement plans. Of those, 546 were new filers and 92 had filed previously. Last month, four companies with fiscal years ending in June 2026 — Forcs (189690), Manho Rope & Wire (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 abbreviated filings with additional, detailed value enhancement plans.
Shareholder returns through treasury share purchases and cancellations also continued. KT&G (033780) decided last month to buy back and cancel 360 billion won of its own shares. Celltrion (068270) approved 100 billion won in treasury share purchases and 96 billion won in cancellations, while Cheil Worldwide (030000) approved 40 billion won in purchases and 283 billion won in cancellations.
The Korea Value-Up Index closed at 3,228.34 at the end of last month, up 79.6% from the end of last year. That outpaced the KOSPI's 62.3% gain and the KOSPI 200's 78.5% rise by 17.3 percentage points and 1.1 percentage points, respectively. Combined net assets of 13 value-up exchange-traded funds stood at 3.6 trillion won, up 640.3% from their initial setup.
