Chairman Sohn Tae-seung of Woori Financial Group is joined by the overseas staff invited to Seoul for their excellent work for the group to the “Meet with CEO” event in raising their fists in a show of their determination to even work harder in the future. (Photos: WFG)

Woori Financial Group has been going full speed ahead to globalize its operations, since early this year when it was turned into a financial holding company.

As of June 30, the group had 449 outlets in 26 countries.

In the first half of this year, the group strengthened in its IB sector and set up outlets in Vietnam and Cambodia, two of the countries with the greatest potential for financial market growth, to focus on retail financing in cooperation with financial firms which have digital platforms.

Woori Bank, a major affiliate of Woori Financial Group, has been exploring overseas financial markets since 2010 with Korea’s domestic financial market overcrowded and little room for further growth.

The bank’s share of profit from overseas came to only 10 percent of its total annual profit, far below those of other global banks operating overseas, whose overseas profits amounted to around 30 percent of their total annual earnings on average.

The bank began to look at Southeast Asian countries to make up for its dismal overseas profit share. Woori became a truly global bank with President Sohn Tae-seung taking the helm in 2014, while most of its rivals focused on advanced countries to set up their overseas operations such as the U.S. and Japan.

Going global has become a must for banks in the saturated Korean market, but they could be spinning their wheels when promoted without thorough preparation and long-term strategy, as well as an understanding of the local culture.

Woori Bank’s globalization strategy thus involves “glocalization” a composite of the words “globalization” and “localization.” Under the strategy, Woori Bank is actively expanding its overseas business step by step.

The bank applies different tactics for different markets.

In advanced markets like the U.S., Great Britain and Hong Kong, it is expanding loans for Korean firms operating there.
In emerging markets, it is increasing the number of branches in line with the regions' pace of economic growth.

Earlier this year, Woori achieved one of its long-awaited overseas operational goals, Indonesia's central bank approved Woori's acquisition of a 33-percent stake in Bank Saudara, a local bank in the country. The approval came about 18 months after the two banks signed an agreement for the acquisition.

Woori had a local corporation in Indonesia, Bank Woori Indonesia (BWI), since 1992, mainly dealing with Korean companies operating there. But the limited client base prevented it from increasing profits, so Woori sought a stock purchase of a local commercial bank to obtain a new growth engine and strengthen retail operations.

Woori Bank, the financial conglomerate’s flagship lender, in a consortium with MBK Partners, was tapped as the preferential candidate to acquire 80 percent in Lotte Card, the country’s fifth largest credit card issuer.

President Sohn hinted at that the next M&A target would be a brokerage house.

“An insurance company and a brokerage unit would complete our non-banking portfolio, and the priority should be put on acquiring a securities firm,” Son said in hopes that a brokerage can create synergy with Woori Bank’s existing investment banking unit.

To achieve its M&A ambition, Sohn has been actively engaging with investors. Earlier this week, he went on a four-day IR road show tours in Japan and Hong Kong to attract capital to the company’s M&A projects.

Woori Financial Group last month acquired Tongyang Asset Management and ABL Global Asset Management, and it is near completing an acquisition deal over Kukje Asset Trust’s management rights.

A view of the building in downtown Seoul where the Woori Financial Group has offices.