Orion Holdings said on the 18th it will cancel 2,488,770 treasury shares within this year. That is 3.97% of total shares outstanding, worth about 61.5 billion won based on the closing price on the 17th.
According to Orion Holdings, the date for the treasury share cancellation will be decided at a forthcoming board of management meeting. Orion said the buyback and cancellation aim to boost shareholder value, noting it is sharply strengthening its shareholder return policy.
Orion and Orion Holdings expanded dividends and met the requirements to qualify as high-dividend corporations eligible for separate taxation on dividend income introduced in Jan. this year. On a consolidation basis, Orion's payout ratio is 36%, up 10 percentage points from a year earlier. Orion Holdings raised its payout ratio by 25 percentage points to 55%.
Earlier, in June last year, Orion disclosed a "plan to enhance corporate value," outlining shareholder return measures including: ▲ implementation of a dividend policy with a payout ratio of at least 20% ▲ gradual increases in the payout ratio over the next three years ▲ consideration of an interim dividend.
An Orion official said, "We plan to enhance shareholder value alongside continued growth and, over the mid to long term, strengthen a virtuous cycle between growth and shareholder returns."