nChinatrust names post
Chinatrust Financial Holding Co (中信銀金控) yesterday named Eric Chen (陳聖德), former country corporate officer of Citibank NA (花旗銀行), as president of its subsidiary Chinatrust Commercial Bank (中信銀), hoping this appointment will expand its income from corporate banking and capital markets businesses.
"Chinatrust hopes to take advantage of Chen's financial expertise to expand its corporate banking business," Jeffrey Koo (辜濂松), chairman and CEO of Chinatrust Financial, said yesterday at a press conference.
Chen, 49, will double as president of the Chinatrust Financial's institutional group. He resigned from Citigroup, the world's biggest financial services company, on March 3 after working for 20 years.
Chinatrust Financial yesterday also approved other appointments, with Jeffrey Koo, Jr. (辜仲諒) taking over as chairman of Chinatrust Commercial Bank, the nation's largest credit-card issuer.
Charles Lo (羅聯福), the president of the retail group who helped the bank to its leading position in Taiwan's consumer banking market, will become president of Chinatrust Financial. Steve Chou (周榮生), president of the institutional group, will fill Lo's position as head of the retail group.
Fubon denies report
Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控), the nation's second-biggest financial company, denied a report it is bidding for the Indo-nesian government's 51 percent stake in PT Bank Danamon.
Fubon and HSBC Holdings Plc, Europe's biggest bank by market value, are bidding for the stake in Indonesia's fifth largest bank, the Business Times newspaper said today, citing unidentified people. Hong Kong-based HSBC spokeswoman Vinh Tran declined to comment.
"It's completely untrue," Fubon Managing Director Ng Wing Fai (吳榮輝) said in a telephone interview. "We are interested in growing our franchise in greater China. We have a stated objective to be one of the largest Chinese-speaking financial institutions in Asia."
Nan Ya Plastics 4Q profit rises
Nan Ya Plastics Corp's (南亞塑膠) fourth-quarter profit almost quadrupled to NT$2.94 billion (US$85 million) from NT$734 million in the year-earlier quarter as Taiwan's biggest plastics maker benefited from a recovery in demand for chemicals used in making plastic casings and electronics materials. Sales rose 23 percent to NT$27.2 billion from NT$22 billion.
The company said it benefited from price increases because of shortages in ethylene glycol, which is used to make anti-freeze and polyester fibers, and sales from higher-margin fiber products.
This year, Nan Ya Plastics expects earnings to keep rising because of capacity expansion, supply shortages in ethylene glycol, higher selling prices for electronics materials and investment gains.
Yageo posts 4th-qtr loss
Yageo Corp (國巨), the nation's biggest maker of parts used to control the flow of electricity in electronic products, posted its fourth straight quarterly loss in the three months to Dec. 31.
Yageo's fourth-quarter net loss was NT$708 million (US$20.4 million) compared with a profit of NT$37.6 million profit a year ago, the company said. Sales edged up 3 percent to NT$3.7 billion.
Yageo said it expects prices to fall as much as 10 percent in the fourth quarter from the final three months of last year. It expects its gross margin to decline to 20 percent from 26 percent a year ago.
NT dollar falls
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday continued losing ground to its US counterpart, dropping NT$0.101 to close at NT$34.721 on the Taipei foreign exchange market. Turnover was US$621 million.
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