The Financial Supervisory Commission yesterday said that aggregate pre-tax income by domestic banks in the first seven months grew by 2.8 percent to NT$198.55 billion (US$6.05 billion) from a year earlier.
The commission said the figure is lower than expected as global economic growth momentum showed, taking a toll on domestic banks.
A breakdown of the banking sector’s aggregate data showed that domestic bank branches saw their earnings decrease 4.7 percent year-on-year to NT$127.11 billion in the first seven months, their offshore banking units reported an annual decline of 6.1 percent in earnings to NT$50.09 billion and earnings by overseas branches slipped 1.8 percent to NT$18.81 billion.
Domestic banks in China saw their earnings in the period increase 24.9 percent to NT$2.53 billion, figures showed.
“The decline is primarily due to global economic slowdown as companies often rule out applying for loans during slumps, but such fluctuations are expected,” Banking Bureau Deputy Director-General Lu Hui-jung (呂蕙容) said.
“This years progress is still in line with our expectations,” she added.
The decline was also related to the commission’s requirement for banks to increase their bad loan reserves for mortgage loans and lending in China, Lu said.
Regarding the risks associated with lending in China, the commission said local banks had raised their bad loan reserve ratio to 1.24 percent of Tier 1 loans by setting aside an extra NT$25.6 billion in provisions. In April, the commission required banks to raise their bad loan reserve ratio to 1.5 percent before the end of the year.
However, the commission declined to elaborate which banks were required to furnish the most provision over their increased exposure to China.
The commission said aggregate pre-tax income in the domestic banking sector during the seven-month period would have decreased 4.5 percent year-on-year if the NT$14.82 billion in bargain purchase gain booked by CTBC Financial Holding Co (中信金控) in June last year when it acquired Tokyo Star Bank Ltd was not excluded.
The commission said the CTBC Financial deal pushed last year's aggregate pre-tax income of the banking sector to a high basis at NT$207.99 billion.
purpose: Tesla’s CEO sought to meet senior Chinese officials to discuss the rollout of its ‘full self-driving’ software in China and approval to transfer data they had collected Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk arrived in Beijing yesterday on an unannounced visit, where he is expected to meet senior officials to discuss the rollout of "full self-driving" (FSD) software and permission to transfer data overseas, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Chinese state media reported that he met Premier Li Qiang (李強) in Beijing, during which Li told Musk that Tesla's development in China could be regarded as a successful example of US-China economic and trade cooperation. Musk confirmed his meeting with the premier yesterday with a post on social media platform X. "Honored to meet with Premier Li
Dutch brewing company Heineken NV on Friday announced an investment of NT$13.5 billion (US$414.62 million) over the next five years in Taiwan. The first multinational brewing company to operate in Taiwan, Heineken made the statement at a ceremony held at its brewery in Pingtung County. It also outlined its efforts to make the brewery “net zero” by 2030. Heineken has been in the Taiwanese market for 20 years, Heineken Taiwan managing director Jeff Wu (吳建甫) said. With strong support from local consumers, the Dutch brewery decided to transition from sales to manufacturing in the country, Wu said. Heineken assumed majority ownership and management rights
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The chipmaker last month raised its capital spending by 28 percent for this year to NT$32 billion from a previous estimate of NT$25 billion Contract chipmaker Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電子) yesterday launched a new 12-inch fab, tapping into advanced chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology to support rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) devices. Powerchip is to offer interposers, one of three parts in CoWoS packaging technology, with shipments scheduled for the second half of this year, Powerchip chairman Frank Huang (黃崇仁) told reporters on the sidelines of a fab inauguration ceremony in the Tongluo Science Park (銅鑼科學園區) in Miaoli County yesterday. “We are working with customers to supply CoWoS-related business, utilizing part of this new fab’s capacity,” Huang said, adding that Powerchip intended to bridge
Microsoft Corp yesterday said that it would create Thailand’s first data center region to boost cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, promising AI training to more than 100,000 people to develop tech. Bangkok is a key economic player in Southeast Asia, but it has lagged behind Indonesia and Singapore when it comes to the tech industry. Thailand has an “incredible opportunity to build a digital-first, AI-powered future,” Microsoft chairman and chief executive officer Satya Nadella said at an event in Bangkok. Data center regions are physical locations that store computing infrastructure, allowing secure and reliable access to cloud platforms. The global embrace of AI