Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控), the nation’s largest financial services provider, yesterday said it made a net profit of NT$1.38 billion (US$47.3 million) last month, which meant revenue stayed flat from October, but went up nearly 7 percent from a year earlier.
In the first 11 months of the year, Cathay Financial posted a net profit of NT$15.57 billion, compared with a net profit of NT$11.69 billion a year earlier, thanks to higher first-year premiums from its flagship life insurance unit and rising fee incomes generated by its banking arm, the company said in an e-mail.
Based on the firm’s 10.87 billion issued shares, net profit for the first two months translated into NT$1.46 in earnings per share (EPS), compared with NT$1.13 for the same period last year, the firm said.
Among Cathay Financial’s major business units, Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行) posted the highest net profits for last month and the first 11 months with NT$940 million and NT$12.17 billion, or NT$2.33 per share, respectively.
Cathay Life Insurance Corp (國泰人壽), the nation’s largest life insurer, was second with profits of NT$390 million last month and NT$2.87 billion, or NT$0.54 per share, between January and last month, company data showed.
“Owing to the steady sales of insurance policies last month, Cathay Life saw its first-year premiums leading the industry, reaching NT$81.3 billion as of the end of last month,” the statement said.
Also yesterday, Chinatrust Financial Holding Co (中信金控) posted a net profit of NT$1.88 billion last month and NT$19.45 billion, or EPS of NT$1.77, for the first 11 months, a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange showed.
The company’s first 11 months results compared with the NT$17.76 billion, or NT$1.57 per share, it posted in the same period last year.
Chinatrust Financial attributed the 9.52 percent increase in net profit during the first 11 months to the continued earnings growth of its flagship banking unit, Chinatrust Commercial Bank (中國信託商銀), which saw net profits expand 8.27 percent year-on-year to NT$17.15 billion, or NT$2.27 a share, over the same period.
State-run Hua Nan Financial Holdings Co (華南金控) yesterday said its earnings declined 56.24 percent to NT$3.12 billion last month from October, but net profit for the first 11 months rose by 7.57 percent year-on-year to NT$8.41 billion, or the equivalent of NT$0.98 per share, a company statement said.
Meanwhile, Shin Kong Financial Holding Co (新光金控) posted a net loss of NT$462 million last month and a net profit of NT$10.13 billion, or EPS of NT$1.20, in the first 11 months, the company said in a separate stock exchange filing.
The company’s revenue from January to last month was driven mainly by its life insurance unit, Shin Kong Life Insurance Co (新光人壽), which reported a net profit of NT$5.95 billion, the filing showed.
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