South Korean corporate reforms hit rough patch as Samsung digs in

By Gregor Stuart Hunter and Heekyong Yang

SINGAPORE/SEOUL, Nov 6 (Reuters) – Global investors are pressing South Korea’s biggest conglomerates to speed up corporate governance reforms, saying progress has been uneven, with gains in financials offset by resistance among large chaebol affiliates.

Despite a blistering rally this year, South Korea’s market remains one of the world’s cheapest. The index is up 35% for the year even after a wrenching drawdown since the summer – at one point it had more than doubled – and after selling off it trades on a forward price-to-earnings ratio of about 3.85 times, compared to 17.64 times for MSCI World.

About 70% of KOSPI stocks trade at or below book value, according to LSEG data. Samsung Electronics illustrates the persistent discount. It reported the biggest quarterly operating profit by any technology company in history in the third quarter, yet trades at 1.87 times book value, versus 7.8 for Micron, 29 for Nvidia and 44 for Apple’s.

Reforms aimed at attracting more overseas investors remain a work in progress, contributing to investor outflows from Seoul and raising concerns that the momentum behind President Lee Jae Myung’s drive to eliminate the so-called Korea Discount could stall.

“Banks, or financial holding companies, are moving as they planned according to their value-up plans,” said Namuh Rhee, chairman of the Korean Corporate Governance Forum in Seoul.

“That said, large-caps — mainly chaebol affiliates — are resisting the corporate governance reforms recently and their lobbying has picked up dramatically,” he added.

Some investors have argued that some conglomerates, particularly Samsung, should return more profits to shareholders, simplify their corporate structures and implement strategic changes or divest from underperforming subsidiaries.

SAMSUNG UNDER PRESSURE

Samsung Electronics board chairman Shin Je-yoon met investors overseas before last month’s earnings announcement. The meeting followed complaints about the company’s shareholder return policy from global investors including Capital Group, Artisan and Fidelity, a person briefed on the matter told Reuters.

Investors argued the returns were too modest and said they preferred share buybacks and cancellations to higher dividends, the person said. The meeting and details of the discussions are reported here for the first time.

Samsung said in a statement that Shin regularly meets major global investors as part of its shareholder engagement efforts. It said it keeps an ongoing dialogue with key shareholders to understand a wide range of views on shareholder returns and capital allocation. Capital Group, Artisan and Fidelity did not respond to requests for comment.

In August, Samsung declared a record 30 trillion won ($22.35 billion) in dividends but said it would decide in January how to deploy the remaining 55 trillion won to 75 trillion won earmarked for shareholder returns.

That contrasts with rival SK Hynix, which last month announced a $75 billion shareholder return package including dividends, share repurchases and cancellations. Together, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix account for slightly more than half of the KOSPI’s market capitalisation.

CHANGES TO THE LAW

A law that took effect in March made cancellation of treasury shares compulsory by September next year. Critics say such shares can be used as a takeover defence.

Some sectors, particularly financials, have been rewarded by the market for cancelling such shares.

A gauge of Korean bank shares is up 15.9% this year and insurers have gained 48%, compared with declines of 42% for shipbuilding and 30% for machinery.

Non-financial sectors have been more reluctant to embrace shareholder-friendly measures, and Samsung Group has drawn particular investor ire, even as Samsung Electronics has benefited from the AI boom.

ACTIVIST CHALLENGE

Samsung, South Korea’s biggest chaebol, has faced growing pressure from activist investors seeking to capitalise on the government’s push for governance reform and changes to the country’s Commercial Law.

Seoul-based Life Asset Management said it had asked Samsung’s board special committee and Samsung’s Compliance Committee to independently review the decision to defer the use of the remaining funds until the end of January.

The asset manager said the review should examine whether delaying the decision was in shareholders’ best interests, whether potential conflicts of interest had been properly managed and whether the remaining funds could realistically be deployed before the end of this year.

Palliser Capital, an activist fund run by James Smith, a former head of Elliott Management’s Hong Kong office who has taken on Samsung in the past, has called for preferred-share repurchases and cancellations to be included in shareholder return policies at both Samsung and Hyundai Motor.

Meanwhile, an activist campaign led by Singapore-based Flashlight Capital calling on Samsung Group to boost returns at its security affiliate S-1 Corp has been largely rebuffed, although a 450 billion won share buyback announced last month has lifted its shares.

($1 = 1,342.4000 won)

(Reporting by Gregor Stuart Hunter and Heekyong Yang; Editing by Miyoung Kim and Saad Sayeed)