Local financial conglomerates yesterday gave a mixed outlook and said they are braced for higher uncertainty and risks in exchange and interest rates stemming from US-China trade tensions.
Cathay Financial Holdings Co (國泰金控) has seen its net worth and return on investment recover in the first quarter, but would remain watchful as the trade situation unfolds, Cathay Financial chairman Tsai Hong-tu (蔡宏圖) told a shareholders’ conference in Taipei.
The US dollar exchange rate has been fluctuating, posing a challenge for hedging and forex business, Cathay Financial president Lee Chang-ken (李長庚) told reporters.
Its insurance arm, Cathay Life Insurance Co (國泰人壽), has adapted, Lee said.
Its business in Southeast Asia has reported stronger momentum compared with local sectors, with the life insurer’s branch in Vietnam seeing 58 percent growth in first-year premiums in the first three months of this year, Lee said.
Cathay would expand its operations in Vietnam when the timing is right and assess other investment opportunities in other countries in the region, he said.
Shareholders of Cathay Financial approved a proposal to distribute a cash dividend of NT$1.5 per common share, representing a payout ratio of 38 percent based on the company’s earnings per share of NT$3.95 last year.
Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控) said it is monitoring the risks of volatile exchange and interest rates amid the trade dispute.
Fubon Financial would diversify its foreign-currency investment and cut its US dollar position to rein in risks, chairman Richard Tsai (蔡明興) told a separate shareholders’ conference in Taipei.
The trade issue is dampening global trade, but is also prompting Taiwanese companies to return home, Tsai said, citing a report by the US Federal Reserve, which said that Taiwan might benefit amid the tensions.
Fubon Financial is No. 1 for earnings per share among local peers and would strive to defend that position, he said.
Fubon Financial shareholders approved a proposal to distribute a cash dividend of NT$2 per common share, representing a payout ratio of 44 percent based on the company’s earnings per share of NT$4.52 last year.
Shin Kong Financial Holding Co (新光金控) said that this year would be better than last year on the back of steady growth in revenue and return on investment, as well as its planned Web-only bank, Shin Kong chairman Eugene Wu (吳東進) told another shareholders’ meeting.
Shin Kong’s shareholders approved a proposal to distribute a cash dividend of NT$0.2 per common share, representing a payout ratio of 22 percent based on the company’s earnings per share of NT$0.89 last year.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
TRANSFORMATION: Taiwan is now home to the largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, thanks to the nation’s economic policies President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday attended an event marking the opening of Google’s second hardware research and development (R&D) office in Taiwan, which was held at New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋). This signals Taiwan’s transformation into the world’s largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, validating the nation’s economic policy in the past eight years, she said. The “five plus two” innovative industries policy, “six core strategic industries” initiative and infrastructure projects have grown the national industry and established resilient supply chains that withstood the COVID-19 pandemic, Tsai said. Taiwan has improved investment conditions of the domestic economy
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day