Korea Zinc, Isu Petasys, and Others Removed from the Index
Changes Take Effect from June 13
Hyundai Rotem, Samsung Securities, and Amorepacific have newly joined the Korea Value-Up Index, which was established last year as part of the government’s Value-Up (corporate value enhancement) program. Meanwhile, Isu Petasys, Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance, and NCSoft have been removed from the index.
On the 27th, the Korea Exchange announced that it had convened the Index Operations Committee to review the regular changes to the composition of its major indices, including the KOSPI 200, KOSDAQ 150, KRX 300, and the Korea Value-Up Index. The Value-Up Index was developed by the Korea Exchange to encourage investment in companies with strong corporate value, selecting its components based on factors such as company size, profitability, and shareholder returns.
Jung Eunbo, Chairman of the Korea Exchange, is delivering the opening remarks at the 2025 Value-Up 1st Anniversary Seminar held at the Korea Exchange in Yeouido, Seoul on the 27th. Photo by Yonhap News
Originally, regular changes were scheduled to take place once a year in June, but due to the increase in participating Value-Up companies, a special adjustment was made in December last year. At that time, the number of constituents temporarily increased to 105 due to special inclusions, but this regular adjustment has brought the number back to 100. In this regular review, 27 stocks are being added and 32 are being removed.
By industry group, in Information Technology, PSK Holdings and Solus Advanced Materials have been newly included, while eight stocks including Isu Petasys, LX Semicon, and Hana Materials have been excluded. In Industrials, seven companies including Hanwha Systems have been added, while three, including Pan Ocean, have been removed, resulting in a net increase of four stocks. The number of included stocks also increased by one each in Consumer Staples and Energy.
In the Financials & Real Estate sector, Samsung Securities and JB Financial Group have been added, while Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance and Daou Data have been removed, keeping the total number of stocks unchanged. In Consumer Discretionary, five stocks were both added and removed, resulting in no change to the total number within the sector. The Communication Services sector saw a decrease of one stock.
In Materials, three stocks including Kumho Petrochemical have been newly included, while four, including Korea Zinc, have been removed, resulting in a net decrease of one stock. In Healthcare, Hanmi Science and Wontech were added, but Celltrion, Seegene, and Medytox were removed, resulting in a net decrease of three stocks.
Following this regular adjustment, the market capitalization of the Value-Up Index constituents accounts for 45.8% of the combined KOSPI and KOSDAQ market capitalization. The proportion of Value-Up disclosure companies within the index has expanded significantly, from 7% at the initial launch of the index in September last year to 61%. Starting from next year’s regular review, the index will be composed mainly of Value-Up disclosure companies.
The Korea Exchange explained that it has established objective screening criteria for “shareholder value impairment acts,” which are of significant concern to the market and run counter to the intent of the Value-Up policy, and used these as grounds for removing certain stocks. Acts that may impair shareholder value include cases where a company has been sanctioned for violating financial authority or exchange laws/regulations in relation to capital raising, corporate splits, or mergers and acquisitions (M&A) that could harm the value of general shareholders. Korea Zinc and Isu Petasys were reportedly subject to this criterion, as they were designated as unfaithful disclosure companies after deciding on and then reversing paid-in capital increases for purposes unrelated to their main business or for management control defense.
Since its inception on September 30 last year, the Value-Up Index has risen 6.92% as of May 26, outperforming the KOSPI 200 (2.13%) and the KRX 300 (1.05%).
Meanwhile, in the regular review of the KOSPI 200, eight stocks including HD Hyundai Marine Solution, HDC, and Young Poong were added, while eight stocks including Doosan Fuel Cell, SK Networks, and Cosmo Advanced Materials & Technology were removed. In the KOSDAQ 150, nine stocks were replaced, with companies such as Dongsung FineTec and Hyzen R&M joining, and Motrex, Dawonsys, and KG Inicis being removed. In the KRX 300, YG Entertainment, Shift Up, Daishin Securities, Cafe24, and AhnLab were newly included, while Lotte Insurance, Mirae Asset Life Insurance, and Hana Materials were removed. The changes resulting from this regular review will take effect from June 13.
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