(Yonhap)

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South Korea’s Lotte Group plans to sell some of its core units and appraise its real estate assets to ease concerns over liquidity at its chemicals unit.

During an investor meeting with institutional investors Thursday, Lotte Shopping revealed its plan to appraise its real estate assets for the first time in 15 years in a move designed to arrange its debt-to-asset ratio. A similar appraisal in 2009 resulted in a valuation increase of 3.6 trillion won ($2.5 billion), lowering the debt ratio by 16 percentage points, from 102 percent to 86 percent.

Additionally, Lotte Group has begun a sell-off of a majority stake in Lotte Rental Co. as the conglomerate faces declining profits in its core retail and chemical units. The group is also weighing the shutdown of struggling duty-free stores outside Korea. Lotte Duty Free has four downtown and eight airport duty-free shops in countries including Japan, Vietnam, and Australia.