UWCCB to sell collateral

United World Chinese Commercial Bank (世華銀行) said it plans to raise NT$584 million (US$17 million) today by selling shares in an affiliate of Ever Fortune Industrial Co (長億實業) it holds as loan collateral. United World will auction the 24.85 million shares in Ever Power IPP Co (長生電廠) at a starting price of NT$23.50 per share, said Senior Vice President Yang Chun-wei. United World expects to write off "not more than NT$1.5 billion" of Ever Fortune loans, said Yang. Ever Power isn't publicly traded. United World earlier said its year-end non-performing loan ratio may rise to 2.75 percent from its targeted 1.75 percent because of Ever Fortune loan defaults.