Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控), the nation’s largest financial services provider, said yesterday it posted a NT$510 million (US$16.97 million) net loss last month because its insurance unit reported losses on large provisions.
However, the gains in the first half of last year contributed by the company’s securities unit and banking arm helped Cathay Financial report a net profit of NT$11.18 billion for the full year, compared with NT$4.31 billion in 2010.
Based on the financial holding firm’s 10.36 billion issued shares, last year’s net profit translated into earnings per share (EPS) of NT$1.09, the Taipei-based company said in an e-mailed statement. The company reported an EPS of NT$0.42 in 2010.
Among Cathay Financial’s major business units, Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行) made a net profit of NT$11.1 billion last year. That was followed by the company’s non-life insurance unit, Cathay Century Insurance Co (國泰產險), which made a net profit of NT$610 million last year and a NT$510 million profit from Cathay Life Insurance Corp (國泰人壽), the financial holding firm’s flagship unit, the statement showed.
Last month alone, Cathay Life, the nation’s largest life insurer, reported a net loss of NT$820 million.
However, “owing to the booking of an unrealized profit from an investment in bonds, Cathay Life has seen its net value recover to above NT$110 billion as of the end of last year,” the company said in the statement.
Cathay Financial’s securities firm, Cathay Securities Co (國泰證券), was still in the red last month because of global financial market volatility, reporting a net loss of NT$40 million and a net loss of NT$70 million for the full year, the statement said.
Also yesterday, Shin Kong Financial Holding Co (新光金控) said it made a net profit of NT$5.45 billion last year, or an EPS of NT$0.65, while Chinatrust Financial Holding Co (中信金控) posted a net profit of NT$18.36 billion, or NT$1.62 a share.
Shin Kong Financial’s profits last year compared with NT$3.68 billion in 2010 and were mainly driven by its life insurance unit, Shin Kong Life Insurance Co (新光人壽), which reported a net profit of NT$2.46 billion, according to a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
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