Publicly Listed Companies' Regular Shareholders' Meetings Surge... Still Concentrated on 'Friday Mornings' at the End of March

KSD, Analysis of Regular Shareholders' Meetings of Listed Companies with December Fiscal Year-End Over the Past 5 Years

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Seon-ae] As the number of listed corporations on the stock market has increased, the number of regular general meetings of shareholders (GMS) held by December fiscal year-end corporations has also risen over the past five years. This year as well, the dates for regular GMS were concentrated in late March, with the time mostly on Friday mornings. Although this trend continues, the concentration on specific weekdays appears to be gradually easing.

According to an analysis by the Korea Securities Depository on the 26th, a total of 11,028 December fiscal year-end listed corporations held regular GMS over the past five years (2017?2021). These include 3,786 companies (34.3%) on the KOSPI market, 6,543 companies (59.3%) on the KOSDAQ market, and 699 companies (6.4%) on the KONEX market.

The total number of December fiscal year-end listed corporations holding regular GMS increased by 290 companies (14.1%) over the past five years, from 2,058 in 2017 to 2,348 this year. By market, the KOSDAQ market showed the highest growth with an increase of 267 companies (22.5%). The KOSPI market increased by 27 companies, while the KONEX market decreased by 4 companies.

Regular GMS were most frequently held between March 21 and 31 (9,739 companies, 88.3%), maintaining a strong concentration during this period. Although the proportion of meetings held in late March had stagnated or decreased over the past five years, it rose again this year to 2,155 companies (91.8%), an increase of 264 companies (9.2%) compared to the previous year.

Concentration on a specific weekday (Friday) for holding meetings (5,093 companies, 46.2%) is still maintained, but the trend shows a significant decline from 1,419 companies in 2017 to 611 companies this year. This year, 611 companies (26.0%) held their regular GMS on Friday, a decrease of 313 companies (33.9%) compared to the previous year. Meetings were instead distributed to Wednesday (520 companies) and Thursday (345 companies).

The most common time for holding regular GMS was 9 a.m. (6,280 companies, 56.9%), followed by 10 a.m. (3,392 companies, 30.8%), continuing the trend of concentration in specific time slots.

Regarding the locations of regular GMS, Seoul (4,409 companies, 40.0%) and the Gyeonggi region (3,080 companies, 27.9%) remained the main centers. The number of companies in Seoul and Gyeonggi has steadily increased over the past five years (Seoul: 842 → 933 companies, Gyeonggi-do: 558 → 673 companies).

The types of agenda items at the GMS were mostly approval of executive compensation limits (10,805 cases, 25.1%) and approval of financial statements (10,628 cases, 24.7%). The KOSDAQ market had about four times more agenda items related to stock options (799 cases) compared to the KOSPI market (204 cases).

Over the past five years, the majority of listed corporations’ regular GMS had 4 to 5 agenda items (6,066 cases, 55.0%). The number of meetings with 6 or more agenda items increased most sharply, from 97 companies to 832 companies.