Woori Bank pledges to become largest corporate lender by 2027

Woori Bank office in central Seoul [WOORI BANK]

Woori Bank will become the largest corporate lender by 2027, the bank said on Thursday.

“Woori Bank will become a bank that fulfills its social responsibility by providing differentiated services to corporations,” said the bank.

It pledged to become the second largest corporate lender by 2025 and to top the market by 2027.

It currently ranks the fourth.

Woori Bank said it will raise the ratio of corporate loans, setting a goal to raise the balance for corporate loans to 207.4 trillion won ($155.2 billion) by the end of 2026, up from the 135.7 trillion won as of August. The goal for household loans is to raise the balance to 139.2 trillion won from 132.7 trillion won over the same period.

Following the adjustment, Woori Bank’s ratio for corporate and household loans will be 6 to 4 from the current 5 to 5, it said.

“We will strengthen the fundamental role of finance by flowing the money into the required places,” the bank said in a statement.

Specifically, Woori Bank plans to finance a total of 4 trillion won to 300 small and medium-sized companies by 2028 and to annually finance 4 trillion won towards companies engaged in new growth engines, including EV batteries, defense and chips.

BY JIN MIN-JI [jin.minji@joongang.co.kr]