Woori Financial Group reports 20% drop in net profit

Woori Financial Group office in central Seoul [YONHAP]

Woori Financial Group reported 2.52 trillion won ($1.9 billion) in net profit last year, down almost 20 percent from a year earlier, due to one-off provisions and a rise in borrowing costs, the company said Tuesday.

The net profit also fell short of the 2.8 trillion won FnGuide consensus.

Woori said it put aside 1.88 trillion won in provision last year, partly to prepare for “instability in the financial market, including real estate project financing.”

The company’s interest profit totaled 8.74 trillion won, up 0.5 percent, but its noninterest profit fell 4.7 percent to 1.09 trillion won over the same period largely caused by the foreign exchange sector and derivative products.

The flagship Woori Bank’s net profit stood at 2.5 trillion won last year, down 13 percent on-year. Net profit raised by Woori Card plunged 45.3 percent to 111 billion won while that of Woori Financial Capital nose-dived 30.1 percent to 127.8 billion won.

Woori Bank CEO Cho Byung-kyu pledged last month for the bank to achieve the highest net profit among all commercial banks this year — from its current position of fourth — by raising the competitiveness of core businesses and the digital sector and securing future growth engines.

Woori said it will focus on risk management and strengthen the synergy effects of the affiliated companies for this year’s earnings.

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