Chairman Sohn Tae-seung of Woori Financial Group speaks at the financial group’s management strategy meeting at Woori Financial Group headquarters in Sogong-dong, Seoul, on Jan. 12. (Photo: Woori Financial Group)

Woori Financial Group, which marked the first anniversary of the establishment of a holding company last year, posted 1.904.1 trillion won in net income during the year, the group said.

That means the inclusion of 134.4 billion won in an accounting net income reduction, caused by a shift to a holding company system, would bring cumulative net income to more than 2 trillion, the best-ever business performance.

The fiscal year 2019 financial results, announced by Woori Financial Group on Feb. 7, showed that the group chalked up 1.904.1 trillion in yearly cumulative net income, including 238 billion won in 2019 Q4.

These achievements were owed to improving asset growth, with a focus on blue chip loans and core-deposit growth, on top of the furthering of industry-leading asset quality improvement.

The success came despite outside and inside factors, such as the protracted U.S.- Chinese trade dispute and declining interest rates.

The group saw net operating revenue - interest income plus non-interest income - rise 3.4 percent year-on-year to 6.941.7 trillion won.

Interest income increased 4.3 percent thanks to asset growth focusing on SMEs and core deposit growth while non-interest income rose 3.1 percent with a focus on digital and loan commissions.

As a result of efforts to improve international competitiveness, the financial group’s global business saw net income jump 15.8 percent year-on-year to 224 billion won.

The global business’s portion of net income took up more than 10 percent, establishing itself as one of the major income sources.

The financial soundness category of Woori Bank improved over than the previous year, as it saw non-performing loan (NPL) rate and delinquency rate standing at 0.4 percent and 0.30 percent, respectively, the industry’s lowest levels.

The financial group made the feat on the back of efforts to focus on asset quality and reinforce follow-up measures.

Meanwhile, along with the announcement of the fiscal year 2019 business performance, the financial group notified 700 won in cash dividend per common share.

Despite worry that expanded dividend was feared to be not easy due to growth strategies taken since a shift into a holding company system, Woori Financial Group decided a dividend 50 won more than the previous year, a step to demonstrate the group’s strengthening of shareholder-friendly policies.

The group notified that dividend per share (DPS) and propensity to dividend came to 5.8 percent and 26.6 percent, respectively. The figures represent a 1.8 percentage point rise and a 5.1 percentage point increase over the previous year.

A Woori Financial Group official said despite last year’s outside and inside unfavorable business conditions, the group achieved the best-ever business performance, and 2019 was recorded as the first year of a shift into a holding company system in which the group succeeded in a series of M&As of non-banking institutions and it build groundwork to diversify income sources.

Woori Financial Group will further stabilize its structural operations by ramping up income and growth and implement more shareholder-friendly policies, the official added.

The financial group saw ROE and ROA standing at 9.44 percent and 0.58 percent, respectively. Woori Bank, Woori Card, and Woori Investment Bank each posted 1.540.8 trillion won, 114.2 billion won and 47.4 billion won in net profit.