Kwangmoo, a KOSDAQ-listed company, has been steadily pursuing a shareholder value enhancement (value-up) policy by simultaneously acquiring and retiring its own shares, supported by a stable financial position.
On March 4, Kwangmoo announced that its board of directors, which convened the previous day, resolved to retire approximately 5 billion won worth of treasury shares. The shares to be retired total 2,160,732, representing all treasury shares acquired on the market between December 30 of last year and January 29 of this year, and amount to 3.5% of total outstanding shares. The retirement is scheduled for March 10, and upon completion, the number of outstanding shares will decrease from the current 61,879,864 to 59,719,132.
This is the second share retirement following a similar action conducted about three months ago. Previously, on December 23 of last year, the company retired approximately 5.1 billion won worth (1,755,962 shares), equivalent to 2.76% of total outstanding shares.
From April 24 of last year to January 29 of this year, Kwangmoo acquired a total of 3,897,694 treasury shares. The number of shares retired exceeded this amount, totaling 3,916,694 shares. Retiring treasury shares directly reduces the number of shares in circulation, thereby increasing per-share value.
Although the company’s capital decreases as a result of treasury share retirement, its debt ratio remains stable compared to the industry average. As of the end of September last year on a consolidated basis, equity capital stood at 211.2 billion won, and the current ratio was 881.13%. Over the same period, the debt ratio was 9.21%, and the dependence on borrowings was 4.44%. The debt ratio decreased by 9.37 percentage points from the same period the previous year (18.58%), and the dependence on borrowings also declined by 1.59 percentage points. With a structure virtually free of debt, Kwangmoo boasts one of the most robust financial profiles among KOSDAQ companies.
With a stable financial structure providing ample capacity for further value-up efforts, the company is preparing additional treasury share acquisitions and retirements.
A Kwangmoo representative stated, "At the beginning of last year, we established plans to enhance corporate value through treasury share buybacks and retirements, and we have been implementing these step by step. Going forward, we will continue to promptly conduct share buybacks and retirements, further expanding our policy of increasing shareholder value."
He added, "Although we disclosed on February 26 that our provisional results showed a net loss for the year compared to 2024, we expect to return to profitability this year due to increases in the share prices of financial assets acquired last year."
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