Orion Holdings said on the 16th it will cancel 2,488,770 shares of its own stock. That is 3.97% of total shares outstanding and is worth about 66.5 billion won based on the closing price on the 16th.
According to the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system, Orion Holdings and Orion held board meetings that day and resolved to cancel treasury shares they hold. The buyback cancellation is part of a plan to boost corporate value released in March.
The scheduled date for the cancellation is the 23rd. Orion will also cancel 7,344 treasury shares that day, or 0.02% of total shares outstanding. The amount is about 1 billion won based on the closing price on the 16th.
Orion and Orion Holdings expanded dividends to meet the requirements for high-dividend corporations eligible for separate taxation on dividend income introduced in January 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 its "plan to boost corporate value," outlining shareholder-return measures including: ▲ implementing a dividend policy with a payout ratio of at least 20% ▲ gradually increasing the payout ratio over the next three years ▲ reviewing an interim dividend.
An Orion official said the decision was "to continuously strengthen shareholder-return policies," adding, "We plan to build a virtuous cycle in which the results of continued growth lead to higher shareholder value."