Lee Min-hyung joined The Korea Times in 2014 and has worked as a journalist mainly in Korea’s finance, tech and automotive industry. He specializes in content creation, breaking news and in-depth analysis currently on transportation and mobility. You can reach him via mhlee@koreatimes.co.kr.
Woori chief honing in on for 1st US roadshow
Woori Financial Group Chairman Son Tae-seung attends a meeting with Financial Supervisory Service Governor Jeong Eun-bo in Seoul, Nov. 3. Joint Press Corps-Yonhap
By Lee Min-hyung
By Lee Min-hyung
Woori Financial Group Chairman Son Tae-seung is honing in on the United States for his first roadshow, if possible, amid growing hopes for the group's complete privatization by no later than the end of 2021, after state-run Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation (KDIC) completes the sale of its 10 percent stake in Woori to other investors.
Details of his itinerary have not been fixed, but the Woori chief will soon head for the non-deal roadshow (NDR), according to a spokesman from the financial holding firm.
“After a two-year hiatus, we decided to hold the event for overseas institutional investors amid eased COVID-19 lockdown restrictions,” the Woori official said without elaborating further. The Woori chief is considering visiting New York and Boston if his intended trip to the United States becomes a reality.
But chances are he would attend meetings in Asian countries just as he has done for the past few years. The Woori chief has been active in holding such overseas NDRs in Hong Kong and Singapore. Son held the event in the two countries in 2018. He was in Tokyo and Hong Kong for four days in 2019 on business centered on a series of meetings with officials from sovereign wealth funds and global asset management firms.
Woori hopes to widen its appeal to foreign investors, as most financial holding firms ― including Woori ― here are relatively lesser-known to major investors overseas. The government's ownership in the financial holding firm has long been considered a negative factor holding back Woori's stock growth.
But in light of its planned privatization, the lender is expected to tighten its internal management structure, allowing it to push for more aggressive investment and business expansion.
Data showed that foreign investors' stake in Woori has been on a gradual rise since 2020. As of the end of 2020, the portion of foreign-held stakes in Woori reached 24.84 percent and rose to 25.91 percent at the end of June this year. The figure also increased to 29.17 percent as of the end of October.
Woori's stock price is also showing signs of bouncing back to the previous level after a sharp fall coinciding with the pandemic shock early last year. The lender is widely expected to enhance its corporate valuation due to earnings growth. It reported a record net profit of 2.2 trillion won for the first three quarters combined, up 92.8 percent from the previous year.