Cathay posts 90% drop

Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控) posted a 90 percent drop in second-quarter profit from the first three months. Net income fell to NT$482 million (US$14 million) from NT$4.85 billion in the preceding quarter. The second-quarter result was derived from subtracting first-quarter profit from first-half net income of NT$5.33 billion released by the company. Cathay Financial provided no comparative year-earlier figures because its shares began trading in December after it de-listed Cathay Life Insurance Co (國泰人壽) and turned into a holding company. Falling interest returns have shaved earnings at Cathay, owner of Taiwan's largest life insurer, which has been hurt by the increasing burden of paying higher guaranteed returns on older policies. First-half profit accounted for 41 percent of the full-year target of NT$13 billion at Cathay, which said this month profit in the latest quarter would be lower than the first quarter's.