Call Start: 03:00 January 1, 0000 3:36 AM ET

Woori Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:WF)
Q3 2024 Earnings Conference Call
October 25, 2024 03:00 ET

Company Participants

Han Hong Sung - Head of Investor Relations
Lee Sung-Wook - Group Chief Financial Officer
Park Jang-Geun - Chief Revenue Officer

Conference Call Participants

Han Hong Sung

Good day everyone. I am Han Hong Sung, Head of Investor Relations at Woori Financial Group. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all of you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to participate in today’s Woori Financial Group’s Earnings Call. Joining us on the call today are Mr.Lee Sung-Wook; the Group CFO; Mr. Jong-Yong Yim, the Group CEO [ph], and Mr.Park Jang-Geun, the Group’s CRO.

Today's call will begin with the presentation on our business performance by the Group CFO, Mr. Lee Sung-Wook, followed by a Q&A session. Please note that simultaneous interpretation is available for our international investors.

With that, let us begin the presentation on Woori Financial Group’s earnings for the third quarter of 2024.

Lee Sung-Wook

Good afternoon. I'm Lee Sung-Wook, CFO, at Woori Financial Group overseeing the Group’s financial operations. Let me now walk you through our business performance for the third quarter of 2024. Please refer to Page 3 of the earnings report posted on our website.

First, let me elaborate on the Group’s net income. As of third quarter of 2024 Woori Financial Group’s cumulative net income increased by 9.1% year-on-year reaching KRW2.6591 trillion, surpassing last year's total annual performance by approximately KRW150 billion in just three quarters. The Group’s net income for Q3 stood at KRW903.6 billion which represents a slight decrease versus previous quarter. However, it remained above the KRW900 billion level for two consecutive quarters, exceeding market expectations.

Thanks to our strong revenue generation capabilities and stable cost management, the Group’s ROE came in at 10.82%. Also, the Group’s cost-to-income ratio remained below 40% for the second consecutive quarter, demonstrating the Group’s ability to control costs. Meanwhile, the Board of Directors on October 18 [ph] approved a cash dividend of KRW181 per share which has been publicly disclosed.

Let me now turn to the Group’s net operating revenue. As of Q3 2024, the Group’s cumulative net operating revenue grew 6.6% year-on-year to KRW7.9927 trillion, and on a quarterly basis to KRW2.7122 trillion in line with the previous quarter. The stable top line performance was achieved despite margin contraction due to falling market interest rates supported by robust interest income coming from strong asset growth across all segments, as well as significant increase in non-interest income, primarily driven by fees and commissions across all domains. In other words, our ongoing efforts to diversify revenue streams have started to bear fruit.