Stocks
Korean Stocks Have Almost No Shareholder Benefits — What to Look For Instead 韓国株に株主優待はほぼない — 代わりに何を見るか
The first thing Japanese retail investors notice when they start looking at Korean stocks is that the system of shareholder benefits, known as 'yuutai,' virtually doesn't exist.
Shareholder benefits are a rather unique practice in Japan, developed to increase individual shareholders and encourage long-term holding. In Korea, shareholder returns primarily take the form of dividends and treasury stock buybacks. There is no culture of distributing benefit goods.
If you are accustomed to calculations like an effective 4% yield including shareholder benefits on Japanese stocks, you might feel that Korean stocks are lacking one evaluation metric. Conversely, however, this also means that Korean stocks can be evaluated solely on dividends and stock price. There's no need to estimate the cash value of benefits.
Instead, there are two things to watch for.
One is dividends. While the dividend payout ratio for Korean companies has traditionally been low, in recent years, strengthening shareholder returns has been addressed as a policy and corporate goal. As there are significant differences between stocks, it's necessary to check the dividend payout ratio and the sustainability of dividends individually.
Many Korean companies have a strong practice of paying dividends once a year at the fiscal year-end, and interim dividends, common in Japan, were not the norm. In recent years, some companies have begun introducing quarterly dividends. Be aware that the concentration of ex-dividend dates at the year-end differs from the sensibility of Japanese stocks.
The other is treasury stock buybacks and retirements. In Korea, there have been many cases where treasury stock bought back is held rather than retired, which has been a long-standing criticism. Whether the repurchased shares are actually retired serves as a substantive indicator for judging a company's shareholder return stance. Look for the word 'retirement' (소각) in IR materials.
It's also helpful to note the difference in fiscal year-ends. While March is the concentrated fiscal year-end for Japanese stocks, December is the overwhelming majority for Korea. Dividend ex-dividend dates are also concentrated at year-end. Holding both Japanese and Korean stocks has the secondary effect of naturally diversifying dividend payment timings.日本の個人投資家が韓国株を見始めて最初に気づくのが、株主優待という制度が事実上存在しないことです。
株主優待は日本にかなり特有の慣行です。個人株主を増やし長期保有を促す目的で発達しました。韓国では株主還元は基本的に配当と自社株買いという形を取ります。優待品を配る文化そのものがありません。
日本株で優待利回り込みで実質4パーセントといった計算に慣れていると、韓国株の評価軸が一つ足りなく感じられます。しかし逆に言えば、韓国株は配当と株価だけで評価すればよいということでもあります。優待の現金価値を見積もる作業が要りません。
代わりに見るべきものが二つあります。
一つは配当です。韓国企業の配当性向は伝統的に低めでしたが、近年は株主還元の強化が政策的にも企業側でも課題として扱われています。銘柄ごとの差が大きいので、配当性向と配当の継続性を個別に確認する必要があります。
多くの韓国企業は期末に年1回配当という慣行が強く、日本のような中間配当が一般的ではありませんでした。近年は四半期配当を導入する企業も出てきています。権利確定日が年末に集中する点は日本株の感覚と異なるので注意してください。
もう一つは自社株買いと消却です。韓国では自社株買いをしても消却せず保有し続ける例が多く、それが長く批判の対象になってきました。買い戻したあと実際に消却しているかが、その企業の株主還元姿勢を判断する実質的な指標になります。IR資料で消却という語を確認してください。
決算期の違いも押さえておくと役に立ちます。日本株は3月期末が集中しますが、韓国は12月決算が圧倒的多数です。配当の権利確定も年末に集中します。日本株と韓国株を併せ持つと、配当の入金時期が自然に分散するという副次的な効果があります。
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