- Published 2026.11.06 18:01
New shareholder benefit program for individual investors holding shares for over a year
Aims to boost e-commerce usage and secure mid-to-long-term investors to enhance corporate value
LY Corp., an affiliate of Naver, will give shopping vouchers usable on its e-commerce platform to shareholders who hold its stock for the long term. The strategy is aimed at broadening its individual investor base and inducing mid-to-long-term investment to raise corporate value. It also seeks to directly promote use of its platform and strengthen the profitability of its e-commerce business.
On Nov. 5, LY Corp. announced through the Tokyo Stock Exchange that it had officially established the shareholder benefit program following a board resolution. Eligible shareholders are those who hold at least 5,000 LY Corp. shares as of March 31 each year and have maintained the holding for at least one year. The first benefit record date is set for March 31, 2027.
The benefit is a dedicated voucher that can be used on Yahoo! Japan Shopping. It is paid differentially based on the number of shares held: shareholders with 5,000 to less than 10,000 shares receive 25,000 yen (about 225,000 won), those with 10,000 to less than 50,000 shares receive 50,000 yen, those with 50,000 to less than 100,000 shares receive 250,000 yen, and those holding 100,000 shares or more receive vouchers worth up to 500,000 yen (about 4.5 million won). The vouchers are sent by mail around July each year and can be used on Yahoo Shopping, excluding some stores, until January of the following year, limited to residents of Japan. They cannot be transferred to others.
The shareholder return measure comes amid LY Corp.'s recent earnings growth. LY Corp. said in its fiscal 2026 second-quarter (July-September) results released the same day that revenue rose 11.5% year on year and adjusted EBITDA increased 20.9%. Improved profitability through linkage with major financial platforms such as PayPay was reflected in the results. Based on the strong performance, the company also raised its full-year revenue, operating profit, earnings per share (EPS) and dividend forecasts, further strengthening its shareholder-friendly policies.
Among Japanese listed companies, shareholder benefit programs offering their own products or services are used as a key means of attracting individual investors. LY Corp. is aiming for a lock-in effect by offering its e-commerce channel as a benefit, going beyond expanding cash dividends. Competition in the Japanese e-commerce market is currently fierce among large platforms such as Amazon Japan and Rakuten. LY Corp. plans to bring its shareholders into the platform as loyal customers to defend market share and induce additional transaction volume growth.
LY Corp. expects the program to help shareholders better understand its business and services. Since the shareholding requirement must be met continuously across three shareholder registry record dates (end of March, end of September, and end of March the following year), the impact on the actual number of shareholders and trading trends is expected to materialize after 2027, when the first vouchers are paid. Starting with the first voucher payment in 2027, LY Corp. will continue to encourage shareholders to use its services and pursue mid-to-long-term corporate value enhancement.
※ This article is an AI translation of the Korean original published by Korea Credit News; it was checked by automated quality guards and published by the English edition desk.
