Taishin Financial Holding Co (台新金控) yesterday extended a peace offering as it awaits the new government’s decision on a decade-long dispute over management control of state-run Chang Hwa Bank (CHB, 彰化銀行).
“We are retracting a preliminary injunction filed against the Ministry of Finance, which is to be carried out in a few days, following approval by the board of directors,” Taishin Financial chairman Thomas Wu (吳東亮) told shareholders at the company’s annual general meeting in Taipei.
Minister of Finance Sheu Yu-jer (許虞哲) yesterday said he respected Taishin’s move.
Taishin Financial filed the injunction against the ministry in December 2014, after the ministry wrested control of CHB from the company through its majority of board seats.
Wu said the company wants to give the new government more time to resolve the issue.
However, Wu also said a Taipei District Court ruling on April 27 established the validity of a contract between Taishin Financial and the ministry signed in 2005, when the company acquired a 22.5 percent stake in CHB, adding that the verdict would lay the foundation of the company’s continued efforts to regain control of the state-run lender.
Taishin Financial will continue to contest the ministry in the courts, as the ministry violated the court’s ruling that it must not interfere with the firm’s efforts to gain a majority on CHB’s board, Wu said.
“The Ministry of Finance violated the court’s ruling, as it manipulated the board election by soliciting for proxy votes, and we filed an appeal last month,” Wu said.
Shareholders yesterday approved a dividend payout proposal — a cash dividend of NT$1.2 per share and a stock dividend of 7.2 percent, on last year’s earnings per share of NT$1.39.
During the first five months of this year, Taishin Financial’s net income dipped by about 22 percent annually to NT$5.67 billion (US$175.95 million), or earnings per share of NT$0.61.
Separately, Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控) shareholders yesterday approved long-term plans to raise NT$50 billion.
Fubon Financial said it is considering a number of options, including issuance of new common and preferred shares in the domestic and international markets, as well as overseas depository receipts.
Fubon Financial shareholders also approved a plan to distribute a cash dividend of NT$2, on last year’s earnings per share of NT$6.21.
The company reported that net income in the first five months of this year topped all peers at NT$16.18 billion, or earnings per share of NT$1.56.
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