The board of Taishin International Bank (台新銀行), a subsidiary of Taishin Financial Holding Co (台新金控), yesterday approved a plan to sign a cooperation memorandum with East West Bank China Ltd (華美銀行) to pave the way for its expansion into the Chinese market.
The Taiwan lender said it would ink the memorandum as soon as the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) gives the go-ahead.
Taishin Bank is the second local lender proposing to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Shanghai--headquartered bank in a week. On Nov. 24, Ta Chong Bank Co (大眾銀行) announced a similar financial deal with the Chinese subsidiary of East West Bank, a Chinese-US bank in California serving consumers and businesses in the US and Greater China.
With expectations of increased cross-strait financial exchanges, financial stocks gained the most among major sectors on the main bourse yesterday, up 1.29 percent compared with a 0.77 percent increase on the TAIEX, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
“Financials gained on news that the Chinese government will allow Land Bank of Taiwan (土地銀行), First Commercial Bank (第一銀行), Chang Hwa Commercial Bank (彰化銀行) and Taiwan Cooperative Bank (合庫銀行) to start banking operations in China,” -SinoPac Securities Corp (永豐金證券) said yesterday in a client note.
The four Taiwanese banks won regulatory approval to open branches in China in September.
Meanwhile, the central bank said yesterday in a statement that it, the FSC and the Mainland Affairs Council were studying a proposal from state-run Mega International Commercial Bank (兆豐國際商銀) to sell yuan--denominated traveler’s checks.
Financial shares also attracted investors’ interest because of their improving asset quality, strong momentum in earnings growth and low valuation, Primasia Securities Co (犇亞證券) said in a separate note.
During the first 10 months of the year, domestic banks posted NT$156.3 billion (US$5.08 billion) in pre-tax profits, which was higher than the previous peak of NT$155.4 billion recorded in 2004, according to the latest figures from the FSC.
The overall non-performing loan ratio of local banks dropped to 0.73 percent last month from 0.78 percent in September, while the coverage ratio rose to 135.83 percent from 128.91 percent, indicating signs of improving asset quality, the FSC said on Tuesday.
“Backed by this strong bottom line performance and with a positive 2011 outlook, we see the current valuation of 1.3 times price-to-book ratio for domestic banks as undemanding,” -Primasia said, adding that investors should load up on more financial shares whenever they see pullbacks in prices.
Shares in First Financial Holding Co (第一金控), parent of First Bank, rose 4.59 percent to finish at NT$22.80 and Chang Hwa Bank added 3.23 percent to close at NT$22.35. Shares in Mega Financial Holding Co (兆豐金控) gained 1.18 percent to end the day at NT$21.5, while shares in Taiwan Cooperative Bank fell 0.22 percent to NT$22.85.
TECH PARTNERSHIP: The deal with Arizona-based Amkor would provide TSMC with advanced packing and test capacities, a requirement to serve US customers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is collaborating with Amkor Technology Inc to provide local advanced packaging and test capacities in Arizona to address customer requirements for geographical flexibility in chip manufacturing. As part of the agreement, TSMC, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, would contract turnkey advanced packaging and test services from Amkor at their planned facility in Peoria, Arizona, a joint statement released yesterday said. TSMC would leverage these services to support its customers, particularly those using TSMC’s advanced wafer fabrication facilities in Phoenix, Arizona, it said. The companies would jointly define the specific packaging technologies, such as TSMC’s Integrated
China’s economic planning agency yesterday outlined details of measures aimed at boosting the economy, but refrained from major spending initiatives. The piecemeal nature of the plans announced yesterday appeared to disappoint investors who were hoping for bolder moves, and the Shanghai Composite Index gave up a 10 percent initial gain as markets reopened after a weeklong holiday to end 4.59 percent higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dived 9.41 percent. Chinese National Development and Reform Commission Chairman Zheng Shanjie (鄭珊潔) said the government would frontload 100 billion yuan (US$14.2 billion) in spending from the government’s budget for next year in addition
Sales RecORD: Hon Hai’s consolidated sales rose by about 20 percent last quarter, while Largan, another Apple supplier, saw quarterly sales increase by 17 percent IPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) on Saturday reported its highest-ever quarterly sales for the third quarter on the back of solid global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) globally, said it posted NT$1.85 trillion (US$57.93 billion) in consolidated sales in the July-to-September quarter, up 19.46 percent from the previous quarter and up 20.15 percent from a year earlier. The figure beat the previous third-quarter high of NT$1.74 trillion recorded in 2022, company data showed. Due to rising demand for AI, Hon Hai said its cloud and networking division enjoyed strong sales
Protectionism: US trade chief Katherine Tai said the hikes would help to counter unfair trade practices from China, while boosting domestic clean energy investments US Trade Representative Katherine Tai (戴琪) defended stiff tariff hikes against countries such as China, saying that paired with investment, they were a “legitimate and constructive” tool for reinvigorating domestic industries. Tai’s comments come a week after sharp tariff increases on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs), EV batteries and solar cells took effect — with levies down the line on other products also recently finalized. The latest moves targeting US$18 billion in Chinese goods come weeks before next month’s US presidential election, with Democrats and Republicans pushing a hard line on China as competition between Washington and Beijing intensifies. In an interview on Thursday
RSS