Process of Rebuilding Trust... One Year of the Value-Up Program 'Meaningful Change'

HD Hyundai Electric and KB Financial, among others, were awarded the Value-Up Excellent Company Award at the 1st anniversary event of the Value-Up Program. The Korea Exchange plans to expand support so that small and medium-sized listed companies can participate in the Value-Up Program and continue to develop related indices.

On the 27th, the Korea Exchange announced that it held a seminar to commemorate the 1st anniversary of the Value-Up Program in Yeouido, Seoul. The exchange selected 10 companies as excellent companies that faithfully established corporate value enhancement plans and actively communicated with shareholders, showing corporate value enhancement performance among 125 companies that completed disclosures by last March after the implementation of the Value-Up Program.

The Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Award went to HD Hyundai Electric and KB Financial. The Financial Services Commission Chairman Award was given to △Meritz Financial Group △Samyang Foods △KT&G. The Korea Exchange Chairman Award went to △Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance △Shinhan Financial Group △Hyundai Glovis △KT △SK Hynix.

On this day, Chairman Jeong Eun-bo of the exchange said in his opening speech, "Since the implementation of the Value-Up Program, companies accounting for half (49%) of the KOSPI market capitalization have participated in disclosures, showing meaningful changes that respect shareholder value, such as expanding shareholder returns," and "The exchange will continue to support the establishment of a culture that respects shareholder value in our capital market with a long-term perspective."

Kim Byeong-hwan, Chairman of the Financial Services Commission, emphasized in his congratulatory speech, "Companies should change themselves by first considering the voice of the market, not by the market or regulatory authorities, and should pursue value-up in various ways, including expanding investments according to the characteristics of each company," and "The market also needs to evaluate companies' efforts from the perspective of 'sustainable corporate value enhancement' beyond a uniform view."

On this day, the exchange published a white paper on the corporate value-up program, which includes the progress of the implementation of the Value-Up Program, the status of participation by listed companies, disclosure content, market trends, and excellent disclosure cases.

According to the white paper, the average stock price return of value-up disclosure companies last year was 4.5%, which was 21.4%p higher than the average stock price return (-16.9%) of non-disclosure companies, showing a favorable stock price trend. In addition, as a result of a survey conducted on 95 domestic and foreign institutional investors about the Value-Up Program, 93% of all respondents answered that they "are well aware of the Value-Up Program," and 90% positively evaluated the goal of resolving the Korea discount.

The international seminar commemorating the 1st anniversary of the Value-Up Program held on this day was attended by domestic market participants such as the Korea Exchange and the National Pension Service, as well as market experts from Japan and Taiwan, who gave presentations on the main progress of corporate value enhancement policies in each country. Park Sun-young, a professor of economics at Dongguk University, added, "The Value-Up Program is not a one-time campaign but a work to rebuild trust in the Korean capital market," and "Through this, the Korean market can leap into an investment ecosystem that meets global standards, not just staying in domestic system improvements."

nodelay@fnnews.com Park Ji-yeon Reporter