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| Woori Financial Group Chairman and CEO Yim Jong-yong speaks during his visit to a special branch office of the group's flagship affiliate, Woori Bank, that offers tailor-made services for senior citizens in Seoul, in this March 30 file photo. Courtesy of Woori Financial Group |
By Yi Whan-woo
Woori Financial Group Chairman and CEO Yim Jong-yong will travel to London next week, engaging in his first overseas investor relations trip after he took office in March.
Yim will be one of the members of a delegation led by Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) Governor Lee Bok-hyun, to promote the financial soundness of Korean finance services firms as well as their efforts in digital innovation and improving the environment for foreign investors.
Lee will host relevant events on Sept. 13.
"The trip will be meaningful as Yim will meet investors abroad for the first time as the group chairman," Woori Financial Group noted in a press release.
It explained that the topics to be addressed by Yim will include the group's yearly outlook concerning business performance, its policy on shareholder returns and growth capabilities in the long term.
The chairman has been pushing to improve investor sentiment for the company, purchasing 10,000 shares of the company's stocks, Sept. 6, amid its underwhelming performance on the benchmark KOSPI.
The company said the chairman bought each share for 11,880 won, bringing the total value to 118.8 million won ($88,900).
The banking group's share was priced as high as 13,440 won in January but has mostly stayed in the mid- to upper 11,000 won range since Yim took office, due to market risks associated with an economic slowdown in Korea.
The sluggish performance of the firm on the stock market raised concerns over its push to diversify its non-banking business portfolio after it ended more than two decades of government-led ownership and was fully privatized in 2021.
In particular, the company is interested in acquiring an insurer and a brokerage house. It is the country's only major banking group without such units.
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