Number of Dividend Reduction Resolutions at This Year's Annual General Meetings Increases Sixfold... Meeting Date Concentration Remains an Issue

Analysis of December Fiscal Year-End Shareholder Meetings by Kosdaq Association and Korea Listed Companies Association
Top Three Meeting Dates Account for 66.7% of All Meetings

Among corporations with a December fiscal year-end that held annual general meetings of shareholders this year, a total of 124 companies resolved to reduce dividends, marking an increase of more than sixfold compared to the previous year.

The Korea Listed Companies Association (Chairman Jung Guyong) and the Kosdaq Association (Chairman Lee Donghun) announced on May 22 that, based on their analysis of the status and key characteristics of this year's annual general meetings for a total of 2,440 listed companies with a December fiscal year-end (805 on KOSPI, 1,635 on KOSDAQ), these figures were compiled.

The most frequently tabled agenda item at the 2025 annual general meetings was the appointment of directors, which was addressed by 1,896 companies. This was followed by the appointment of auditors and audit committee members (1,199 companies), and amendments to articles of incorporation (920 companies). Among the 920 companies that proposed amendments to their articles of incorporation, 126 companies (83 on KOSPI, 43 on KOSDAQ, 13.7%) included revisions to the "record date for year-end dividends." As a result, as of the end of March, a total of 1,137 companies (422 on KOSPI, 715 on KOSDAQ, 46.6%) had amended their articles of incorporation to allow the record date for dividends to be set after the dividend amount is finalized.

Additionally, as the practice of converting capital reserves to retained earnings for use as dividend resources has become a trend, the number of resolutions to reduce capital reserves has also increased. Unlike ordinary dividends, reduced dividends are classified as "income from capital transactions," which can be tax-exempt. Retained earnings converted through capital reserve reduction resolutions at this year's annual general meetings can be used as dividend resources in the following year.

However, the phenomenon of general meeting schedules being concentrated on specific dates has yet to be resolved. In the fifth week of March, 544 companies held meetings on Wednesday, 571 companies on Friday, and in the sixth week, 512 companies held meetings on Monday, meaning that 66.7% of all listed companies clustered their meetings at the end of March. Although this concentration decreased slightly from the previous year's 70.8%, it remains at a high level. The number of companies that participated in the "Autonomous Compliance Program for Dispersing General Meetings" and held their meetings on dates other than the expected peak days was 957 (39.3%), a decrease from the previous year's 42.9% and the lowest in three years.

The approval rate for shareholder proposals also declined. While the number of companies where shareholder proposals were tabled remained the same as the previous year at 41 (16 on KOSPI, 25 on KOSDAQ), the total number of proposals fell to 82 from 154 the previous year. Only 10 companies had at least one shareholder proposal approved (approval rate 24.4%), a decrease of 12.2 percentage points from the previous year's approval rate of 36.6%.

The increasing adoption of electronic voting and electronic proxy systems is an encouraging development. At the 2025 annual general meetings, 1,489 companies (61.0%) implemented at least one of these systems: electronic voting was used by 1,489 companies (61.0%), and the electronic proxy system by 692 companies (28.4%). The Kosdaq Association commented, "Systems that enhance the convenience of remote exercise of shareholder rights and voting are becoming the norm."