Woori Financial Group Inc. Files 20-F Annual Report

TL;DR

<b>Woori Financial Group Inc. has submitted its 20-F annual report, detailing its 2023 financial performance and corporate structure.</b>

AI Summary

WOORI FINANCIAL GROUP INC. (WF) filed a Foreign Annual Report (20-F) with the SEC on April 29, 2024. Woori Financial Group Inc. filed its 20-F annual report for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2023. The filing details financial results and business operations of the South Korean financial services holding company. The report includes information on various subsidiaries such as Woori Asset Trust, Woori Savings Bank, and Woori Asset Management. Consolidation adjustments mentioned include the elimination of KRW 300,297 million in internal transactions and KRW 1,272,393 million in dividends received by the holding company. The company also notes adjustments for deposit insurance premiums (KRW 423,834 million) and fund contribution fees (KRW 402,057 million) between reporting divisions.

Why It Matters

For investors and stakeholders tracking WOORI FINANCIAL GROUP INC., this filing contains several important signals. This filing provides investors with a comprehensive overview of Woori Financial Group's financial health, operational segments, and strategic adjustments for the past fiscal year. Understanding the consolidation adjustments and internal reconciliations is crucial for assessing the true profitability and inter-company financial flows within the group.

Risk Assessment

Risk Level: medium — WOORI FINANCIAL GROUP INC. shows moderate risk based on this filing. The filing is a standard annual report (20-F) for a large financial institution, which inherently carries market and regulatory risks, but does not highlight any immediate, severe threats.

Analyst Insight

Investors should review the detailed financial statements and segment information to understand the group's performance drivers and potential risks.

Key Numbers

• 20231231 — Fiscal Year End (Period of report)
• 20240429 — Filing Date (Date of submission)
• KRW 300,297 million — Internal Transactions Elimination (Consolidation adjustment)
• KRW 1,272,393 million — Dividends Received by Holding Co. (Consolidation adjustment)
• KRW 423,834 million — Deposit Insurance Premiums (Internal reconciliation adjustment)
• KRW 402,057 million — Fund Contribution Fees (Internal reconciliation adjustment)

Key Players & Entities

• WOORI FINANCIAL GROUP INC. (company) — Filer name
• KRW 300,297 million (dollar_amount) — Internal transactions elimination
• KRW 1,272,393 million (dollar_amount) — Dividends received by holding company
• KRW 423,834 million (dollar_amount) — Deposit insurance premiums adjustment
• KRW 402,057 million (dollar_amount) — Fund contribution fees adjustment
• Woori Asset Trust Co., Ltd. (company) — Subsidiary
• Woori Savings Bank (company) — Subsidiary
• Woori Asset Management Corp. (company) — Subsidiary

FAQ

Key Dates

• 2023-12-31: Fiscal Year End — Reporting period for financial data
• 2024-04-29: Filing Date — Date the 20-F was submitted to the SEC

Glossary

20-F

An annual report required for foreign private issuers with securities traded on U.S. stock exchanges. (Provides a comprehensive overview of the company's business and financial condition.)

Consolidation adjustments

Adjustments made to combine the financial statements of a parent company and its subsidiaries. (Essential for understanding the group's overall financial position by eliminating intercompany transactions.)

Key Financial Figures

• $1.00 — December 31, 2023, which was 1,291.0= US$1.00. 1 Table of Contents FORWARD-LOOK

Filing Documents

• d613836d20f.htm (20-F) — 20221KB
• d613836dex111.htm (EX-11.1) — 36KB
• d613836dex121.htm (EX-12.1) — 12KB
• d613836dex131.htm (EX-13.1) — 8KB
• d613836dex971.htm (EX-97.1) — 39KB
• g613836g00d78.jpg (GRAPHIC) — 85KB
• g613836g00d79.jpg (GRAPHIC) — 90KB
• g613836g01s70.jpg (GRAPHIC) — 138KB
• g613836g11a01.jpg (GRAPHIC) — 90KB
• g613836g11a02.jpg (GRAPHIC) — 59KB
• g613836g63q55.jpg (GRAPHIC) — 24KB
• 0001193125-24-119661.txt (&nbsp;) — 89584KB
• wf-20231231.xsd (EX-101.SCH) — 567KB
• wf-20231231_cal.xml (EX-101.CAL) — 190KB
• wf-20231231_def.xml (EX-101.DEF) — 1576KB
• wf-20231231_lab.xml (EX-101.LAB) — 2498KB
• wf-20231231_pre.xml (EX-101.PRE) — 2254KB
• d613836d20f_htm.xml (XML) — 27778KB

Forward-Looking Statements

Forward-Looking Statements 2 Item 1. Identity of Directors, Senior Management and Advisers 3 Item 2. Offer Statistics and Expected Timetable 3 Item 3. Key Information 3 Item 3.A. [Reserved] 3 Item 3.B. Capitalization and Indebtedness 3 Item 3.C. Reasons for the Offer and Use of Proceeds 3 Item 3.D.

Risk Factors

Risk Factors 3 Item 4. Information on the Company 33 Item 4.A. History and Development of the Company 33 Item 4.B. Business Overview 40 Item 4.C. Organizational Structure 114 Item 4.D. Property, Plants and Equipment 115 Item 4A. Unresolved Staff Comments 116 Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects 116 Item 5.A. Operating Results 116 Item 5.B. Liquidity and Capital Resources 141 Item 5.C. Research and Development, Patents and Licenses, etc. 146 Item 5.D. Trend Information 146 Item 5.E. Critical Accounting Estimates 146 Item 6. Directors, Senior Management and Employees 147 Item 6.A. Directors and Senior Management 147 Item 6.B. Compensation 150 Item 6.C. Board Practices 150 Item 6.D. Employees 152 Item 6.E. Share Ownership 154 Item 6.F. Disclosure of A Registrant's Action to Recover Erroneously Awarded Compensation 154 Item 7. Major Shareholders and Related Party Transactions 154 Item 7.A. Major Shareholders 154 Item 7.B. Related Party Transactions 155 Item 7.C. Interest of Experts and Counsel 156 Item 8. Financial Information 156 Item 8.A. Consolidated Statements and Other Financial Information 156 Item 8.B. Significant Changes 163 Item 9. The Offer and Listing 163 Item 9.A. Offering and Listing Details 163 Item 9.B. Plan of Distribution 166 Item 9.C. Markets 166 Item 9.D. Selling Shareholders 166 Item 9.E.

Dilution

Dilution 166 Item 9.F. Expenses of the Issuer 166 Item 10. Additional Information 166 Item 10.A. Share Capital 166 Item 10.B. Memorandum and Articles of Association 166 Item 10.C. Material Contracts 173 Item 10.D. Exchange Controls 173 Item 10.E. Taxation 174 Item 10.F. Dividends and Paying Agents 180 Item 10.G. 180 i Table of Contents Page Item 10.H. Documents on Display 180 Item 10.I. Subsidiary Information 181 Item 10.J. Annual Report to Security Holders 181 Item 11.

Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk

Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk 181 Item 12.

Description of Securities Other Than Equity Securities

Description of Securities Other Than Equity Securities 205 Item 13. Defaults, Dividend Arrearages and Delinquencies 206 Item 14. Material Modifications to the Rights of Security Holders and Use of Proceeds 206 Item 15.

Controls and Procedures

Controls and Procedures 206 Item 16. [Reserved] 207 Item 16A. Audit Committee Financial Expert 207 Item 16B. Code of Ethics 207 Item 16C. Principal Accountant Fees and Services 207 Item 16D. Exemptions from the Listing Standards for Audit Committees 208 Item 16E. Purchase of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers 208 Item 16F. Change in Registrant's Certifying Accountant 209 Item 16G. Corporate Governance 209 Item 16H. Mine Safety Disclosure 211 Item 16I. Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspections 211 Item 16J. Insider Trading Policies 211 Item 16K. Cybersecurity 211 Item 17.

Financial Statements

Financial Statements 213 Item 18.

Financial Statements

Financial Statements 213 Item 19. Exhibits 213 ii Table of Contents PRESENTATION OF FINANCIAL AND OTHER INFORMATION The financial statements included in this annual report are prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards, or IFRS, as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board, or the IASB. Unless expressly stated otherwise, all financial data included in this annual report are presented on a consolidated basis. Unless otherwise indicated or required by the context, "we," "us," "our" and similar terms used in this annual report refer to Woori Financial Group and its subsidiaries (including Woori Bank) and, for periods prior to our establishment, refer to Woori Bank and its subsidiaries. In this annual report: references to "Korea" are to the Republic of Korea; references to the "government" are to the government of the Republic of Korea; references to "Won" or "" are to the currency of Korea; references to "U.S. dollars," "$" or "US$" are to the currency of the United States; and references to "Euros" or "EUR" are to the currency of the European Economic and Monetary Union. Discrepancies between totals and the sums of the amounts contained in any table may be a result of rounding. For your convenience, this annual report contains conversions of Won amounts into U.S. dollars at the noon buying rate of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York for Won in effect on December 31, 2023, which was 1,291.0= US$1.00. 1 Table of Contents

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission encourages companies to disclose forward-looking information so that investors can better understand a company's future prospects and make informed investment decisions. This annual report contains forward-looking statements. Words and phrases such as "aim," "anticipate," "assume," "believe," "contemplate," "continue," "estimate," "expect," "future," "goal," "intend," "may," "objective," "plan," "positioned," "predict," "project," "risk," "seek to," "shall," "should," "will likely result," "will pursue" and words and terms of similar substance used in connection with any discussion of future operating or financial performance or our expectations, plans, projections or business prospects identify forward-looking statements. In particular, the statements under the headings "Item 3.D. Risk Factors," "Item 4.B. Business Overview" and "Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects" regarding our financial condition and other future events or prospects are forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are management's present expectations of future events and are subject to a number of factors and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. In addition to the risks related to our business discussed under "Item 3.D. Risk Factors," other factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to: our ability to successfully implement our strategy; future levels of non-performing loans; our growth and expansion; the adequacy of allowances for credit and other losses; technological changes; interest rates; investment income; availability of funding and liquidity; our exposure to market risks; and adverse market and regulatory conditions. By their nature, certain disclosures relating t

Risk Factors

Risk Factors Risks relating to our corporate credit portfolio The largest portion of our exposure is to small- and medium-sized enterprises, and financial difficulties experienced by companies in this segment may result in a deterioration of our asset quality and have an adverse impact on us. Our loans to small-and medium-sized enterprises amounted to 122,925 billion, or 35.6% of our total loans, as of December 31, 2022 and 130,553 billion, or 36.2% of our total loans, as of December 31, 2023. As of December 31, 2023, Won-denominated loans to small-and medium-sized enterprises that were classified as substandard or below were 490 billion, representing 0.4% of such loans to those enterprises. See "Item 4.B. Business Overview—Corporate Banking—Small-and Medium-Sized Enterprise Banking." We recorded charge-offs of 330 billion in respect of our Won-denominated loans to small-and medium-sized enterprises in 2023, compared to charge-offs of 117 billion in 2022 and 158 billion in 2021. According to data compiled by the Financial Supervisory Service, the industry-wide delinquency ratios for Won-denominated loans to small-and medium-sized enterprises increased in 2022 and 2023, and was 0.4% as of December 31, 2023. The delinquency ratio for small-and medium-sized enterprises is calculated as the ratio of (1) the outstanding balance of such loans in respect of which either principal or interest payments are overdue by one month or more to (2) the aggregate outstanding balance of such loans. Our delinquency ratio for such loans denominated in Won was 3 Table of Contents 0.3% as of December 31, 2022 and 0.4% as of December 31, 2023. Our delinquency ratio may further increase in 2024 as a result of, among other things, adverse changes in economic conditions in Korea and globally. See "—Other risks relating to our business—Unfavorable changes in the global financial markets could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition." Accordingly, we may

View Full Filing

View this 20-F filing on SEC EDGAR