E.Sun Financial Holding Co (玉山金控) expects to sustain its earnings growth momentum for the rest of the year, after achieving a 27 percent increase in net income in the first half of the year, company president Joseph Huang (黃男州) told a media briefing yesterday.
“Fee income, which was the main driver of growth in the first half, might continue to expand at a rapid pace going forward,” Huang said before an investors’ conference in Taipei.
NT$5.54 BILLION PROFIT
The bank-focused conglomerate posted NT$5.54 billion (US$184.35 million) in net profit during the January-to-June period, representing a 27 percent increase from the same period last year, thanks to improving core businesses, Huang said.
Net fee income advanced 23.3 percent year-on-year to NT$5.3 billion, accounting for 33.5 percent of total revenue, company data showed.
Cumulative earnings rose to NT$6.49 billion as of last month, or NT$1.0 earnings per share, and the company was the eighth-best performer among its 14 listed peers, according to separate stock filings.
The landscape looks smooth ahead, with the company looking at double-digit gains for wealth management and credit card businesses, Huang said.
LOAN BOOK GROWS
Net interest income totaled NT$7.19 billion in the first half, making up 45.5 percent of overall profits, the company said, after the loan book saw growth of 6.2 percent from a year earlier.
“Our goal of expanding loans by 10 percent to 12 percent this year looks achievable, favorable for stabilizing net interest margin” that stood at 1.28 percent as of June, from 1.27 percent three months earlier, Huang said.
Overseas and offshore banking operations contributed 46 percent of total income and the group would press ahead with expansion in China and emerging markets in Southeast Asia, he said.
Main subsidiary E.Sun Commercial Bank (玉山銀行) plans to open a subsidiary in Shenzehn, China, and its Dongguan branch recently won approval to operate yuan-linked businesses, Huang said.
The lender intends to add three new branches to its subsidiary in Cambodia by the end of the year and another two next year, he said.
REGULATORY APPROVAL
E.Sun Bank is awaiting regulatory approval for its branch in Sydney and also for representative offices in Vietnam and Myanmar, Huang said.
The bank has about NT$460 million in exposure to LCY Chemical Corp (李長榮), the suspected culprit of the gas pipeline explosions in Greater Kaohsiung, and has set aside a provision of 10 percent, Huang said, adding that the chemical firm has made regular debt payments.
“The company’s healthy asset quality is the reason why foreign institutional investors own more than a 50 percent stake, which is higher than our financial peers,” he said.
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