Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控), the nation’s largest listed financial group by assets, yesterday posted NT$620 million (US$21.5 million) in net income for last month, declining 42.06 percent from one month earlier as the life insurance arm continued to weigh down profits, the company said in a statement.
Flagship unit Cathay Life Insurance Co (國泰人壽), the largest financial service provider by market share, remained in the red, reporting a net loss of NT$410 million, attributable to weakening first year premiums, the group said.
Cumulative net profits reached NT$3.59 billion as of last month, translating into earnings of NT$0.35 per share, Cathay Financial said.
The banking subsidiary, Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行), made the biggest contribution, supplying NT$1.01 billion in net profit last month on growing fee and interest incomes, the parent company said.
Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控), the second-largest financial service provider by market share, fared better, posting NT$1.91 billion in net income last month, accelerating nearly 30 percent from April, the group said in statement on Thursday.
Cumulative earnings for the first five months equaled NT$13.62 billion, or earnings of NT$1.59 per share, the group said.
Taipei Fubon Commercial Bank Co (台北富邦銀行) posted NT$935 million in net profit last month on the back of continued improvement in net interest and fee incomes, the parent said.
Fubon Life Insurance Co (富邦人壽) reported NT$454 million in net income driven chiefly by sales of traditional life insurance policies, Fubon Financial said.
The improving macroeconomic environment also bode well for bank-centric Chinatrust Financial Holding Co (中信金控), the nation’s third-largest financial group.
Chinatrust Financial posted NT$1.82 billion net profits last month, rising 8.8 percent from April, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.
The group, which owns the nation’s largest credit card issuer, Chinatrust Commercial Bank (中國信託商銀), accumulated a net profit of NT$8.37 billion as of May, translating into earnings of NT$0.8 per share, the parent said.
The improvement in net interest and fee incomes as well as recoveries of bad loans last month more than offset the group’s losses in the capital market, Chinatrust Financial said.
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has appointed Rose Castanares, executive vice president of TSMC Arizona, as president of the subsidiary, which is responsible for carrying out massive investments by the Taiwanese tech giant in the US state, the company said in a statement yesterday. Castanares will succeed Brian Harrison as president of the Arizona subsidiary on Oct. 1 after the incumbent president steps down from the position with a transfer to the Arizona CEO office to serve as an advisor to TSMC Arizona’s chairman, the statement said. According to TSMC, Harrison is scheduled to retire on Dec. 31. Castanares joined TSMC in
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the
FACTORY SHIFT: While Taiwan produces most of the world’s AI servers, firms are under pressure to move manufacturing amid geopolitical tensions Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) started building artificial intelligence (AI) servers in India’s south, the latest boon for the rapidly growing country’s push to become a high-tech powerhouse. The company yesterday said it has started making the large, powerful computers in Pondicherry, southeastern India, moving beyond products such as laptops and smartphones. The Chinese company would also build out its facilities in the Bangalore region, including a research lab with a focus on AI. Lenovo’s plans mark another win for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who tries to attract more technology investment into the country. While India’s tense relationship with China has suffered setbacks