Yuanta shares on rollercoaster ride over rumors of buyout talks

Woori Financial Group's drive to strengthen its non-banking business invites speculations for potential acquisition

Yuanta Securities Korea's headqaurters in Seoul (Yonhap)

Rumors about the possible sale of the Korean unit of Yuanta Securities, a Taiwanese investment bank, to Korean banking conglomerate Woori Financial Group have reemerged, causing the former’s stock price to spike by over 20 percent on Tuesday.

Earlier in the day, a local media outlet reported that Yuanta Financial Holdings is in talks to sell its Korean unit to Woori Financial Group with the transaction expected to be closed early next year. The sale price was lowered from 1.5 trillion won ($1.18 billion) to 1.2 trillion won, it added.

Following the report, the price of Yuanta Securities Korea shares surged 20.93 percent to trade at 2,975 won in the early morning session. The stock shed gains to trade at 2,585 won as of 2:10 p.m.

Yuanta Financial Holdings made a foray into the Korean market by acquiring Korean brokerage house Tongyang Securities in 2014.

There have been persistent rumors that Yuanta Securities Korea will be put on sale. However, its largest shareholder Yuanta Securities Asia Financial Services has been continuously increasing its shares from 57.39 percent to 57.84 percent in the past six months, showing its willingness to keep the entity.

Both Yuanta Securities Korea and Woori Financial Group denied the report.

“Sale rumors have repeatedly reemerged. We have been denying them, and it’s the same this time,” a Yuanta official said.

Woori has been regarded as a potential buyer to take over the local stock brokerage house, as Woori is the only one out of the country’s top five financial conglomerates that doesn’t have a securities business under its umbrella.

Woori sold its brokerage business to NH Investment & Securities when it completed its privatization in 2014.

“We have been looking for acquisition deals in order to diversify our non-banking business portfolio, but we haven’t been in contact with Yuanta Securities for that matter,” an official at the financial group said.

Currently, the group has 14 different subsidiaries in various sectors including Woori Bank, Woori Card, Woori Financial Capital, Woori Investment Bank and Woori Asset Trust.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, securities companies suffered blows from an unprecedented streak of rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve, which prompted a sharp decline in the Korean stock market and caused the Korean currency to sink to the worst level since the 2008 global financial crisis.

Stock brokerage firms, especially mid-and-small-sized ones, are expected to face a challenging market environment next year as investor sentiment struggles to recover due to concerns over further key rate increases.

Yuanta Securities Korea posted 23.7 billion won in operating profit in the third quarter this year, down 51.4 percent from the same period last year. Net profit fell 57.1 percent to 14.7 billion won.

However, compared to its second quarter results, the firm is in the black. The brokerage firm recorded an operating loss of 12 billion won and a net loss of 7.8 billion won in the second quarter.

Along with Yuanta Securities Korea, EBEST Investment & Securities and SK Securities have been deemed as potential acquisition targets for Woori Financial Group.

By Park Han-na(hnpark@heraldcorp.com)