Lotte Insurance Waves the White Flag: "Call Option on Subordinated Bonds Deferred"

"Decision Made After Discussions with the Financial Supervisory Service"
"Repayment Schedule to Be Finalized Promptly"

Lotte Insurance has postponed the exercise of its call option for subordinated bonds. The company's official position is that it will promptly secure additional capital and then finalize the repayment schedule. It is expected to resume early repayment after meeting the requirements for exercising the call option in the second half of the year.

Lotte Insurance Headquarters, Jung-gu, Seoul. Lotte Sonbo

According to the financial sector, on May 12, Lotte Insurance informed the Financial Supervisory Service that it would defer the early repayment of its subordinated bonds and submit a plan to strengthen its capital base.

Lotte Insurance had planned to exercise the call option on 90 billion won worth of subordinated bonds issued five years ago and repay the debt early. However, just before the call option was to be exercised, on May 7, the Financial Supervisory Service halted the early repayment, stating that Lotte Insurance did not meet the supervisory requirements, such as the capital adequacy ratio (K-ICS), and other regulatory standards.

A Lotte Insurance representative stated, "We reviewed early repayment with investor protection as our top priority, but after discussions with the Financial Supervisory Service, we decided to defer the early repayment," and added, "We will promptly secure additional capital and finalize the early repayment schedule as soon as possible."