Cathay Financial Holding Co (
Fubon said profit for last year will be about NT$9.1 billion (US$263 million) -- 16 percent short of its earlier estimate. The lower figure can be attrrbuted to higher provisions for bad loans. Cathay said it will meet its NT$13 billion forecast only because regulatory changes allowed it to claw back some provisions and show a one-time gain of NT$5 billion.
"We're still in a dream-like state, where every financial company is shouting out forecasts," said Lai Jan-hong, who helps manage NT$3 billion of stocks at EnTrust Investment Trust Corp (
"I would still wait at least another quarter or two to see the actual benefits," he said.
Cathay took over Cathay Life Insurance Co (國泰人壽) and United World Chinese Commercial Bank (世華銀行). Fubon took over TaipeiBank (台北銀行) and five Fubon-related companies, including Fubon Securities Co (富邦證券), Fubon Life Assurance Co (富邦人壽), Fubon Commercial Bank (富邦銀行), Fubon Insurance Co (富邦產險) and Fubon Securities Investment Trust (富邦投信).
An IBES Inc survey of analysts predicts the holding company will show NT$10.6 billion of profit for last year and NT$15.6 billion this year.
Domestic banks still have a way to go in cleaning up their books. The bad-loan ratio, including loans under supervision, comprised 8.86 percent of total credit last year. By comparison, the bad-loan ratio in South Korea stood at 4.3 percent of all credit at the end of September.
Fubon Financial expects profit to be "significantly higher" this year after completing the purchase of TaipeiBank last month, chief financial officer Victor Kung (龔天行) said.
The company will announce earnings details after the board meets this afternoon. It will hold an investors' meeting on Feb. 10.
"Since [Fubon Bank] made more aggressive provisions in 2002, this would help to ease the provision burden in 2003," wrote Sophia Cheng (
Fubon Financial, which owns the nation's largest non-life insurer, also may take over International Investment Trust Co (國際投信) to expand its asset-management business, Kung said.
As for Cathay, it's benefiting from a one-time gain because of regulatory changes. The government has been easing rules, such as allowing insurers to invest as much as 35 percent of their assets abroad instead of 20 percent.
That's aimed at helping insurers who suffered falling returns on stock investments and higher interest rate payments guaranteed on older policies.
With the financial sector lagging behind others recently, investors seeking safe plays amid the prevailing geopolitical concerns bought financial stocks in late trade, Fubon Securities Investment Services manager Cooper Leow said yesteday.
"Financial holding companies in particular attracted interest as their asset quality has improved following equity market gains previously," Leow said. Yesterday, Cathay Financial shares dropped NT$0.1, to NT$46.30. Fubon Financial shares rose NT$0.4, to NT$30.40.
The domestic unit of the Chinese-owned, Dutch-headquartered chipmaker Nexperia BV will soon be able to produce semiconductors locally within China, according to two company sources. Nexperia is at the center of a global tug-of-war over critical semiconductor technology, with a Dutch court in February ordering a probe into alleged mismanagement at the company. The geopolitical tussle has disrupted supply chains, with some carmakers reportedly forced to cut production due to chip shortages. Local production would allow Nexperia’s domestic arm, Nexperia Semiconductors (China) Ltd (安世半導體中國), to bypass restrictions in place since October on the supply of silicon wafers — etched with tiny components to
Singapore-based ride-hailing and delivery giant Grab Holdings Ltd has applied for regulatory approval to acquire the Taiwan operations of Germany-based Delivery Hero SE's Foodpanda in a deal valued at about US$600 million. Grab submitted the filing to the Fair Trade Commission on Friday last week, with the transaction subject to regulatory review and approval, the company said in a statement yesterday. Its independent governance structure would help foster a healthy and competitive market in Taiwan if the deal is approved, Grab said. Grab, which is listed on the NASDAQ, said in the filing that US-based Uber Technologies Inc holds about 13 percent of
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday received government approval to deploy its advanced 3-nanometer (3nm) process at its second fab currently under construction in Japan, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a news release. The ministry green-lit the plan for the facility in Kumamoto, which is scheduled to start installing equipment and come online in 2028 with a monthly production capacity of 15,000 12-inch wafers, the ministry said. The Department of Investment Review in June 2024 authorized a US$5.26 billion investment for the facility, slated to manufacture 6- to 12nm chips, significantly less advanced than 3nm process. At a meeting with
Taiwan’s food delivery market could undergo a major shift if Singapore-based Grab Holdings Ltd completes its planned acquisition of Delivery Hero SE’s Foodpanda business in Taiwan, industry experts said. Grab on Monday last week announced it would acquire Foodpanda’s Taiwan operations for US$600 million. The deal is expected to be finalized in the second half of this year, with Grab aiming to complete user migration to its platform by the first half of next year. A duopoly between Uber Eats and Foodpanda dominates Taiwan’s delivery market, a structure that has remained intact since the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) blocked Uber Technologies Inc’s
RSS