Daishin Securities plans to raise corporate value by strengthening shareholder returns through a large-scale cancellation of treasury shares and tax-exempt dividends.

Daishin Securities said in a regulatory filing on Wednesday it will cancel 15.35 million treasury shares and pay its first tax-exempt dividend as part of its shareholder return policy.

The cancellation will cover 9.32 million shares out of about 12.32 million common shares the company already holds, and all 6.03 million first and second preferred shares. To minimise market impact and improve predictability, it plans to carry out the cancellations in stages at the end of each quarter over 6 quarters.

After the cancellation, 3 million treasury shares will be used as funding for human capital investment.

Of these, 1.5 million shares will be used for employee bonuses through 2029 and the remaining 1.5 million will be allocated to its employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) through 2030.

It will also carry out tax-exempt dividends alongside the treasury share cancellation.

Daishin Securities plans to pursue tax-exempt dividends from this year for about 4 years, with a ceiling of 400.0 billion won, to reduce the tax burden on individual shareholders and maximise shareholder value.

The company has continued cash dividends for 27 consecutive years, presented the industry's first dividend guideline and raised predictability and stability by presenting a minimum dividend amount for dividend-income earners.

Daishin Securities designated 2025 to 2028 as a "capital expansion period" and decided to pursue entry into the ranks of mega-sized investment banks (IB) by strengthening equity capital.

It then designated 2028 to 2030 as an "earnings expansion period" and set a target of achieving a consolidated return on equity (ROE) of 10 percent.

Jung Min-wook (정민욱), head of the management planning division at Daishin Securities, said, "With the addition of treasury share cancellation to the existing dividend policy, a foundation has been 마련됐다 to pursue a more strengthened shareholder return policy." He said, "We will create a virtuous cycle in which profit growth through capital expansion leads to shareholder returns, and enhance mid- to long-term corporate value."