In 2020, KOSPI Corporations Paid a Total Dividend of 33 Trillion Won... Highest in the Last 5 Years

Excluding Samsung Electronics' 13 Trillion Won Dividend, Total Dividends and Average Dividend per Company Reach Record High
KOSDAQ Also Sees Dividend Growth for 5 Consecutive Years... 1.7662 Trillion Won Distributed Last Year

KOSPI Annual Dividend Corporations and Dividend Amount Scale

[Asia Economy Reporter Gong Byung-sun] Despite concerns over COVID-19, KOSPI-listed companies paid out approximately KRW 33 trillion in dividends last year, marking a significant increase. KOSDAQ-listed companies also increased their dividends for the fifth consecutive year, distributing KRW 1.7662 trillion.

On the 21st, the Korea Exchange announced the status of cash dividend-paying companies' dividend yields, payout ratios, and stock price fluctuations over the past five years in both the KOSPI and KOSDAQ markets.

KOSPI-listed companies significantly increased their dividend payouts last year. A total of 529 KOSPI companies paid dividends, distributing KRW 33.1638 trillion, a 60.3% increase compared to the previous year. This is the first time in the past five years that the total dividend amount of KOSPI-listed companies exceeded KRW 30 trillion. Although the number of dividend-paying companies increased by only one, the average dividend per company rose by about 60%. Notably, Samsung Electronics paid approximately KRW 13 trillion in dividends last year, nearly six times more than the previous year. Even excluding Samsung Electronics, both the total dividend amount and the average dividend per company reached record highs.

KOSDAQ-listed companies continued their five-year streak of increasing total dividends. Last year, the total dividends paid by KOSDAQ-listed companies rose by 12.3% year-on-year to KRW 1.7662 trillion. This growth rate is the highest in the past five years. The number of dividend-paying companies increased slightly from 553 in 2019 to 557 last year, while the average dividend per company rose from KRW 2.85 billion to KRW 3.17 billion.

Most KOSPI-listed companies paid dividends for two or more consecutive years. Among the 529 companies, 495 paid dividends for at least two consecutive years. Of these, 415 companies paid cash dividends for five consecutive years, showing a continuous upward trend (406 companies in the previous year). However, compared to the increase in the total number of KOSDAQ-listed companies, the number of dividend-paying companies remained stagnant. In the KOSDAQ market, a higher proportion of companies paid dividends for five consecutive years, with 344 companies accounting for 61.8% of the total.

The average dividend yield of KOSPI-listed companies last year was 2.28%, maintaining the 2% range for three consecutive years. Among them, 166 companies exceeded the government bond yield for five consecutive years, recording an average dividend yield of 3.57%, surpassing the government bond yield by 2.73 percentage points. Last year, all industries' dividend yields exceeded the government bond yield. Over the past five years, the telecommunications sector had the highest dividend yield at 3.41%, followed by the electricity and gas sector (3.17%) and the financial sector (2.92%).

KOSDAQ Annual Cash Dividend Implementation Status

The average dividend yield of KOSDAQ dividend-paying companies last year fell by 0.153 percentage points to 1.559%, despite increased liquidity. However, the government bond yield decreased significantly, widening the yield gap from 0.196 percentage points in 2019 to 0.719 percentage points last year. Among 557 companies, 365 had dividend yields exceeding the government bond yield.

Last year, the payout ratio of KOSPI-listed companies decreased by 1.70 percentage points to 39.55% compared to the previous year. However, this was higher than the average payout ratio of 36.10% over the previous four years. The payout ratio of KOSDAQ-listed companies has risen for five consecutive years, reaching 32.7% last year. Notably, it has exceeded 30% for four consecutive years.

The average stock price fluctuation rate of KOSPI dividend-paying companies was 26.36%, underperforming the KOSPI index's rise, but the gap narrowed. The excess return of the KOSPI index was 6.45% in 2019 but decreased to 4.39% last year. The stock price of KOSDAQ dividend-paying companies rose by 43.3% last year, while the KOSDAQ index increased by 44.6%, trailing by 1.3 percentage points. In 2019, while the KOSDAQ index fell by 0.9%, dividend-paying companies' stock prices rose by 21.1%. However, companies that paid dividends for five consecutive years saw a stock price increase of 53.8%, outperforming the KOSDAQ index's 41.9% rise over the same period.

The Korea Exchange stated, "Companies have shown strong interest in shareholder returns from corporate profits and have maintained stable dividend policies, enabling investors to actively consider dividend investing. We will continue to promote dividend activation and expand a dividend-based investment culture through ongoing management of dividend information provision and dividend-related products."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.