Woori Financial Group announced on Friday it will tighten its belt and work toward “slim management” to increase profitability despite the unstable economic situation.

Under the plan, the group will control large-scale group-level investments, make liquidity-increasing a priority and hold back unnecessary costs. Investment plans of more than a certain amount of money will be closely analyzed in terms of expected profits, said the group through a press release.

CEOs of all affiliates of the group gathered at a management meeting earlier this month to discuss ways to pull through the insecure economic situation and prepare for the worst. 

“We will add fuel to increase profitability through innovative efforts to not only overcome the current crisis but to prepare in case low growth and low profit structure may be stalled in the finance industry,” said Woori Financial Group chairman Lee Pal-seung.

The announcement comes amid global economic stagnation and as many institutions lower expectations for Korea’s growth as well as earnings of local financial groups’ in the second quarter.

Experts see that the group’s earnings will not improve soon, said the group, as profit factors such as household debt or credit cards are not improving and the delinquency rate is steadily on the rise.

The group also underwent a strict belt-tightening management period in 2008 during the global financial crisis.

By Park Min-young  (claire@heraldcorp.com)