The Korea Exchange on Monday released its monthly update on corporate value-enhancement efforts. A total of 409 companies newly disclosed value-up plans in March, lifting the cumulative total to 590 companies, including 307 on the KOSPI and 283 on the Kosdaq.

Of the 409 companies that made new disclosures in March, 405 are classified as high-dividend companies. The disclosures reflect a surge in participation by firms classified as high-dividend companies under revised tax law and enforcement decree, encouraged by tax benefits.

As of April 3, a total of 528 high-dividend companies have submitted value-up plans. Of them, 444 made new disclosures and 84 were companies that had previously disclosed plans.

Among the 444 new disclosures, Kosdaq-listed firms numbered 261, more than the 183 KOSPI firms. That showed active participation in shareholder return policies extending to smaller listed companies and a spreading value-up culture.

Because this is the first year of the high-dividend company disclosure programme, simplified submissions are allowed only this year. From 2027, companies must submit complete disclosures covering current-status diagnosis, goal setting, plan formulation, implementation evaluation and communication.

As of the end of March, the market capitalisation of 587 companies that made full disclosures accounted for 72.2 percent of the total market. The market capitalisation of 305 KOSPI disclosure companies was 3,295.2 trillion won, accounting for 79.2 percent of the KOSPI’s total market capitalisation.

Shareholder returns through treasury share cancellations were also active. A total of 99 companies disclosed treasury share cancellations in March, as commercial law revisions mandate such cancellations.

Samsung Electronics decided on March 18 to buy back 7.2 trillion won worth of treasury shares and on March 31 to cancel 5.3 trillion won worth. SK with 4.8 trillion won and Celltrion with 1.7 trillion won followed.

The amount of treasury share cancellations rose sharply to 21.4 trillion won in 2025 from 13.9 trillion won in 2024 and 4.8 trillion won in 2023. Cash dividends also rose to 50.9 trillion won in 2025 from 43.1 trillion won in 2023.

The value-up index ended March 31 at 2,248.59 points. That was up 126.6 percent from 992.13 points on Sept. 30, 2024, the day the index calculation began, exceeding the KOSPI’s 94.8 percent rise over the same period by 31.8 percentage points.

Net asset value for 13 value-up exchange-traded funds stood at 2.6 trillion won as of the end of March, up 439.4 percent from when they were first launched.

The Korea Exchange said it will provide “value-up disclosure consulting” from late April so listed companies can smoothly prepare value-up plans.