Hana chair woos foreign investors with value enhancement plan

Hana Financial Group Chairman Ham Young-joo speaks during a meeting with foreign investors in Hong Kong on Tuesday. [HANA FINANCIAL GROUP]

Hana Financial Group Chairman Ham Young-joo met with foreign investors in Hong Kong to introduce the firm’s plan for enhancing shareholder value in line with Seoul's corporate value-up program, the firm said Wednesday.

During the two-day visit through to Tuesday, Ham outlined his group's mid- to long-term plan to improve its profitability and shareholder returns during investor relations events with potential and existing investors, according to the firm.

“Hana Financial Group’s efforts to enhance shareholder value for the Korean financial sector's value-up initiative is not a one-off event — rather, it is a long-term plan that will proceed over a broad time frame,” said Ham.

The chairman left Hong Kong for Sydney, Australia, where he plans to hold meetings with local institutional investors.

Foreign investors represent an approximate 70 percent stake in Hana Financial Group. The company's share price has soared 36 percent through this year, driven by investor anticipation for the government’s corporate value-up program, which aims to resolve the chronic undervaluation of Korean stocks, a phenomenon known as the Korea discount.

Financial stocks are considered to be key beneficiaries of the program due to their low price-to-book ratios.

BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]