The 'big hand' National Pension Service's list of companies that received an open letter has Namsun Aluminum, a subsidiary of the SM Group, sitting idly for years without any significant action, drawing attention to the reasons behind it. In the market, some interpret that the National Pension Service, having observed companies that issue formal dividend policies while actually adhering to a no-dividend stance, deliberately left traces of sending an open letter.
On the 22nd, looking at the open shareholder activity page of the National Pension Service's Fund Management Headquarters, there is only one record of an open letter sent to Namsun Aluminum. This company has been included in the target companies for open letter dispatch since March 2022, over three years.
The National Pension Service exercises its shareholder rights through various methods, such as private discussions, selecting companies for private management, selecting companies for public management, sending open letters, and shareholder proposals when it determines that there are issues with the dividend policies, executive compensation limits, corporate value, or shareholder rights of the invested corporations. Over the years, the National Pension Service has sent open letters not only to Namsun Aluminum but also to Korean Air and KCC Glass.
If the issues raised as a shareholder are resolved, the National Pension Service deletes the company's name from the list of publicly managed companies on its website or the records of open letter dispatch through a resolution by the trustee responsibility specialist committee. A recent case is KCC Glass, which was released from the list of publicly managed companies at the end of March this year and was also removed from the dispatch record of open letters.
Thus, the fact that only Namsun Aluminum remains on the open shareholder activity page indicates that the National Pension Service has not achieved satisfactory results in its communication with this company. On March 24, 2022, during the Moon Jae-in administration, the National Pension Service sent an open letter to Namsun Aluminum, requesting a private meeting with the management. At that time, the National Pension Service's equity stake in Namsun Aluminum was 0.66%.
In the open letter, the National Pension Service stated, "Your company has not established a reasonable dividend policy, and despite several requests for private meetings, has refused to engage in discussions, leading us to judge that there is no room for improvement. We would like to confirm your position statement, the current status data/information, actions taken, and improvement measures."
It remains unclear whether the two sides actually had private discussions afterward. A market participant who has worked with the National Pension Service noted, "The open letter was sent, but Namsun Aluminum has been passive, and it seems that a proper dialogue was not achieved."
In any case, Namsun Aluminum announced its dividend policy by the end of that year. The essence was that it would distribute dividends within a range of 10% of the amounts exceeding an operating profit margin of 10%. Shareholder reactions were not positive. Minority shareholders expressed their dissatisfaction, stating, "The premise is that it exceeds an operating profit margin of 10%, which implies that there will be no dividends in the future."
The operating profit margin of Namsun Aluminum stands at around 2%. In fact, the company has continued not to pay dividends even after announcing its dividend policy. A market participant remarked, "From the perspective of the National Pension Service, Namsun Aluminum has not actively responded to the demand for dialogue, and the dividend policy reluctantly presented is viewed as mocking the shareholders, so there seems to be no necessity to remove it from the list of companies that received open letters."
Namsun Aluminum was listed on the securities market in 1978 when it was still known as the predecessor Namsun Metal Industry. Its stock price is in the 1,200 won range, and its market capitalization is merely around 100 billion won. I Gye-yeon, an advisor to SM Group's Samhwan Enterprises, is often associated with Lee Nak-yon's theme stocks as he is the younger brother of former Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon.
A representative from the National Pension Service stated, "I cannot disclose whether there were any past private discussions with Namsun Aluminum, but currently there is no ongoing discussion or separate contact with this company."