Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控) reported the highest earnings per share (EPS) of any of Taiwan’s 15 publicly listed financial holding companies in the period from January to last month, maintaining its long-held status as the sector’s EPS king.
In the two-month period, Fubon Financial posted NT$7.19 billion (US$243 million) in net profit, or NT$0.75 per share, up 47 percent from the same period last year.
INVESTMENT INCOME
The company said the growth primarily reflected higher investment income earned by its life insurance unit on corporate bonds and fixed income funds. The result was not surprising. Fubon Financial has led the sector in both net income and EPS for the past four years.
Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控) came in second after posting NT$4.81 billion in net profit, or NT$0.44 per share, for the past two months, up sharply from the NT$140 million of net profit, or NT$0.01 per share, it posted a year earlier, financial data showed.
Cathay Financial said the higher earnings largely resulted from a write-back in reserves that contributed more than NT$800 million in net profit last month.
STRONG RESULTS
Other financial companies also reported strong results in the first two months, with Chinatrust Financial Holding Co (中信金控) showing NT$0.38 in EPS, ahead of Mega Financial Holding Co’s (兆豐金控) NT$0.36 and Taishin Financial Holding Co’s (台新金控) NT$0.33.
However, China Development Financial Holding Co (中華開發金控) brought up the rear with EPS of NT$0.06 due to a decline in the company’s earnings from its securities business.
Market analysts said the sector’s bottom line is expected to improve, with a meeting between the Financial Supervisory Commission and its Chinese counterpart, the China Banking Regulatory Commission, set for later this month expected to come up with positive leads for future exchanges.
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