In the first quarter of this year, dividends from domestic listed companies reached an all-time high. Following last year's record-breaking first quarter, the size of the dividends increased significantly once again.
According to the Korea Exchange on the 26th, 26 corporations listed on the securities market and KOSDAQ market distributed 5.1692 trillion won in dividends in the first quarter alone.
Last year's first quarter dividends amounted to 4.7021 trillion won from 21 corporations. In the first quarter of this year, the number of corporations and the total amount of dividends increased by 19% and 10%, respectively.
The number of corporations paying dividends in the domestic market during the first quarter remained single digits from 2011 to 2021, but gradually increased to 15 in 2022 and 19 in 2023. This year's first quarter dividend-paying corporations include POSCO Holdings, KB Financial, SK Telecom, Shinhan Financial Group, Doosan Bobcat, SK hynix, Samsung Electronics, and others. HD Hyundai Marine Solution, BNK Financial Group, JEXIMIX, and POND GROUP introduced quarterly dividends for the first time this year.
The expansion of dividends among domestic listed companies is influenced by the value-up program that the government initiated last year. It is analyzed that as corporate value improvement and shareholder-friendly policies are strengthened, dividends are also increasing.
This year is particularly significant for the increase in quarterly dividends, despite growing political and economic uncertainties both domestically and internationally.
Lee Kyung-yeon, a researcher at Daishin Securities, noted, "After analyzing the agenda for the regular shareholders' meeting in March this year, 70 corporations changed their articles of incorporation to modify the dividend record date, seven introduced interim and quarterly dividends, and 20 are pushing for reduced dividends, highlighting that such changes stemmed from voluntary participation."