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Cash-rich IBT opens new headquarters

The Industrial Bank of Taiwan (IBT, 台灣工銀), one of the nation's three industrial banks, yesterday celebrated the launch of its NT$2 billion headquarters in the Neihu Science Park, Taipei City, by reporting record-high earnings for last year.

The bank's after-tax earnings more than doubled year-on-year to NT$2.02 billion (US$65.2 million), with an after-tax NT$0.84 earning per share and a 7.43 percent return on equity for last year, IBT chairman Kenneth Lo (駱錦明) said at a ceremony to unveil the yacht-shaped headquarters.

The 12-story structure was designed by Kevin Cook, who designed the Burj Al Arab in Dubai.

"Last year's earnings were the highest since the Industrial Bank of Taiwan was established almost eight years ago," Lo said.

Unaffected by domestic defaults over unsecured consumer loans and the US' subprime crisis, the IBT secured positive gains in securities and investment ventures in the first three quarters of last year, he said.

Established in 1999 with 150 employees, the IBT now boasts NT$360 billion in assets and more than 1,000 employees, he added.

Financial Supervisory Commission Chairwoman Susan Chang (張秀蓮) praised IBT's performance, while central bank Governor Perng Fai-nan (彭淮南) lauded the bank's success in expanding into investment banking, securities brokerages and bills finance in Hong Kong, as well as its plans to tap into the Vietnamese market.
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