Moody’s downgrades Woori Bank; others stay the same

The global credit ratings firm Moody’s lowered the scores of Korean banks, the firm announced on Friday. The firm downgraded the rating for Woori Bank from A1 to A2, and indicated that the score may fall further in the coming year. Woori faced downgrades on both its ratings and forecast, since the bank is expected to suffer a cash crunch as one of its shareholders, the Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation, is planning to sell nearly half its shares.Six other banks, including the major commercial banks KEB Hana Bank and Shinhan Bank, and regional banks like Busan, Daegu, Jeonbuk and Kyungnam, maintained their ratings grades. Their forecasts, however, worsened.

The main factor in these massive downgrades is the planned restructuring of their suffering conglomerate borrowers in shipbuilding, shipping, construction and steel, Moody’s explained in the report.