Dongwon Industries unveils corporate value-up plan

Dongwon Industries CI

Dongwon Industries Co., the business holding company of South Korea’s Dongwon Group, announced its corporate value enhancement (value-up) plan on Wednesday, which includes a shareholder return policy.

Under the plan, Dongwon Industries will shift from an annual cash dividend to semi-annual payments starting in 2025, doubling the frequency, with the company also planning to gradually increase its dividend payout ratio from 17.6 percent in 2023 to 30 percent.

The company additionally aims to continuously conduct bonus issues or stock dividends to address the low number of publicly traded shares, identified as a cause of weak stock performance. It will also raise its total shareholder return (TSR) to around 40 percent, as well as boost its return on equity (ROE), a key profitability indicator, to over 15 percent.

The company also set a goal to increase its price-to-book ratio (PBR) from 0.44 in 2023 to over 1.

Dongwon Group is intensifying efforts to secure future growth engines based on its core businesses in fisheries, food, materials, and logistics. It plans to actively foster mid- to long-term new businesses, such as land-based salmon farming, secondary battery materials, and smart port logistics, while introducing artificial intelligence (AI) across all business areas to boost productivity.

“We will actively invest in new businesses, while maintaining transparent information disclosure and engaging in active communication with the capital market, shareholders, and various stakeholders to enhance our corporate value,” an official from Dongwon Industries said.