KOSPI-listed companies' cash dividends last year neared 52.8 trillion won, a record high

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[Financial News] KOSPI-listed companies paid a record-high amount of cash dividends last year, surpassing 50 trillion won. However, their payout ratio fell as net profits rose sharply on the back of a strong semiconductor cycle.
According to the Korea Listed Companies Association on the 4th, 569 of the 797 listed companies on the Korea Exchange Main Board with December fiscal year-end paid cash dividends last year, accounting for 71.4%.
\r\nThe total cash dividends, including interim and year-end payouts, came to 52.8 trillion won, up 15.9% from a year earlier. That marks the largest amount on record and is 2.4 times the 21.8 trillion won posted in 2016.
Dividend timing also showed a shift away from the traditional year-end concentration toward a more distributed pattern throughout the year. The number of listed companies paying interim dividends rose steadily from 72 in 2023 to 84 in 2024 and 107 last year. Over the same period, interim dividend payouts expanded from 13.7 trillion won to 15.5 trillion won and then 17.7 trillion won.
By sector, the electricity and electronics industry posted the largest average cash dividend per company at 365.3 billion won, followed by telecommunications at 308.1 billion won and finance at 213.3 billion won.
By payout ratio, the food, beverage and tobacco sector ranked highest at 119.6%. It was followed by paper and wood at 100.7%, nonmetallic minerals at 92.8%, and metals at 90.1%. The electricity and gas sector posted a relatively low payout ratio of 14.4%, while electricity and electronics stood at 18.0%.
The average payout ratio for KOSPI-listed companies last year was 31.1%, down 3.6 percentage points from 34.7% a year earlier. The association said the decline reflected a sharp increase in corporate net profits as the semiconductor industry improved. Excluding Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, the payout ratio was estimated at 42.3%, up 4.3 percentage points from 38.1% the previous year.
The spread of a 'dividend first, investment later' environment, in which shareholders can check dividends in advance, is also gaining ground. Last year, 288 companies changed their dividend record date to a day other than the end of the fiscal year, accounting for 50.6% of all dividend-paying companies and surpassing half for the first time.
Disclosures of value-up plans also increased. Last year, 329 companies disclosed such plans, a sharp rise from 100 the previous year. Their average cash dividend amounted to 147.4 billion won, 8.3 times higher than that of companies that did not make such disclosures.
In addition, 280 companies disclosed themselves as high-dividend firms, representing 49.2% of all dividend-paying companies.
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nodelay@fnnews.com Park Ji-yeon Reporter