The acquisition of The Chinese Bank (中華銀行) is expected to raise HSBC Holdings Plc's local market share from 1.2 percent to 1.6 percent, Citigroup analysts Bradford Ti (鄭溫煌) and Janet Lu said in a note to investors yesterday.
The analysts' remark came after HSBC won a government auction to take over the financially troubled lender in return for a subsidy of NT$47.488 billion from the Central Deposit Insurance Corp.
The deal is also likely to cost the London-based bank NT$8 billion in total, or NT$204 million per branch, the Citigroup analysts estimated, after taking into account the government subsidy, The Chinese Bank's negative book value of NT$30 billion and an estimated US$300 million to US$400 million capital injection by HSBC.
The Citigroup analysts said their rival's latest acquisition was proof of the sector's "long-term attractiveness" and "could introduce a more rational competitive environment" in Taiwan.
In June, ABN Amro Bank won an auction to acquire Taitung Business Bank (台東企銀), boosting its number of local branches from five to 37. In April, Citibank announced it would take over the Bank of the Overseas Chinese (華僑銀行), expanding its local network to 66 branches. In October last year, Standard Chartered Bank absorbed Hsinchu International Bank (新竹國際商銀), boosting its a nationwide network to 86 branches.
"However, we anticipate it also raises the level of competition within an already fragmented space, especially in wealth management -- which has been a growth area for banks over recent years," the analysts said.
As so many foreign banks have now acquired local lenders, the analysts said domestic players could emerge as the driving force behind future consolidation.
“While consolidation in Taiwan has moved at a frustrating pace, we are hopeful that improved politics post Legislative Yuan and presidential elections next year could usher in a better reform environment for the banks,” they said.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
FUTURE PLANS: Although the electric vehicle market is getting more competitive, Hon Hai would stick to its goal of seizing a 5 percent share globally, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), a major iPhone assembler and supplier of artificial intelligence (AI) servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s chips, yesterday said it has introduced a rotating chief executive structure as part of the company’s efforts to cultivate future leaders and to enhance corporate governance. The 50-year-old contract electronics maker reported sizable revenue of NT$6.16 trillion (US$189.67 billion) last year. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has been under the control of one man almost since its inception. A rotating CEO system is a rarity among Taiwanese businesses. Hon Hai has given leaders of the company’s six