Two domestic financial holding companies saw lower profits last month compared with March, as the fall in turnover on the TAIEX weakened earnings at their securities subsidiaries, their stock filings indicated yesterday.
Yuanta Financial Holding Co (元大金控), owner of the nation’s largest securities house, reported NT$281 million (US$9.62 million) in net income last month, a drop of 64 percent from NT$781 million in March, the company’s filings showed.
Yuanta Securities Corp (元大證券), the group’s main source of income, saw its net profit plunge 77.9 percent to NT$100 million, from NT$453 million in March, company data said, after the Ministry of Finance proposed imposing a capital gains tax on stock investments.
The tax plan had less impact on the banking unit, Yuanta Bank (元大銀行), which posted NT$153 million in net income, down 10 percent from NT$170 million in March, the filing said.
Cumulative net income totaled NT$2.75 billion as of the end of last month, translating into earnings of NT$0.27 per share, the filing said.
Weak market sentiment also dampened earnings at SinoPac Financial Holding Co (永豐金控), but to a lesser degree, thanks to its heavy dependence on its banking subsidiary.
The bank-centric group posted NT$709 million in net income last month, declining 10.25 percent from the previous month, the group’s filing showed.
Net profit in the securities unit, SinoPac Securities Co (永豐金證券), nosedived 45.84 percent in April to NT$78.39 million, from NT$144.75 million in March, the filing indicated.
Bank SinoPac (永豐銀行) reported NT$637 million in net profits, down 7.81 percent from NT$691 million in March, the filing said.
For the first four months, net profits were NT$3.38 billion, or earnings of NT$0.46 per share, according to the filing.
In related news, the board of Chinatrust Financial Holding Co (中信金控), the nation’s third-largest financial services provider, approved plans to increase its capital, using last year’s earnings, its stock filing said.
Chinatrust Financial plans to issue 1 billion new common shares at NT$10 each to increase its capital by NT$10.04 billion, the filing said.
The move falls in line with the Financial Supervisory Commission’s call for domestic financial institutions to refrain from paying cash dividends, but to use earnings to strengthen capital adequacy ratios ahead of stricter requirements in the future.
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