EnTie Commercial Bank (安泰銀行) saw its net profit surge more than 13-fold year-on-year to NT$1.21 billion (US$41.69 million), or earnings of NT$0.72 per share, in the first half of this year on the back of rising interest, fee and investment income, the lender’s report released yesterday showed.
By quarters, net income rose more than three times in the second quarter to NT$972 million from three months earlier, the report said.
EnTie Bank CEO Jesse Ding (丁予康) expects growth momentum to continue in the second half, when the lender plans to sell a building in downtown Taipei and two other real-estate properties.
“The bank gained important headway in earnings ability, asset quality and operating efficiency,” Ding said in a statement.
For the first time in the bank’s history, EnTie on Monday distributed employee bonuses, allowing staff to share in its profits, Ding said.
The medium-sized lender made NT$511 million from investment and trading in the financial markets during the first six months, jumping 16.62 times from the same period last year, bucking the trend for most of its peers, the report said.
Net interest income increased 11 percent year-on-year to NT$1.84 billion in the first half, from NT$1.65 billion, thanks to a widening net interest margin that stood at 1.21 percent as of June 30, from 1.11 percent in the previous quarter, the report said.
“While the central bank’s interest rate hikes helped, the bank’s strategy for financial market operations also helped,” Ding said.
Net fee income totaled NT$970 million for the first six months, jumping 16 percent from last year at NT$837 million, the report said, citing improving services as the main reason for growth.
Mortgage lending accounted for 37 percent of total loans, which reached NT$201.6 billion, while land and construction financing made up another 19 percent, the report said.
The ratios were higher than those of its peers, which have tightened mortgage and construction lending in line with the government’s effort to cool real-estate fever.
EnTie had a bad loan ratio of 0.25 percent as of June 30, lower than the peer average of 0.48 percent, while its coverage ratio reached 210 percent.
The lender has NT$300 million in a syndicated loan to troubled memory chipmaker ProMOS Technologies Inc (茂德科技) and has set aside 50 percent provision, the report said, adding it may raise the ratio to 100 percent if necessary.
US SANCTIONS: The Taiwan tech giant has ended all shipments to China-based Sophgo Technologies after one of their chips was discovered in a Huawei phone Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) suspended shipments to China-based chip designer Sophgo Technologies Ltd (算能科技) after a chip it made was found on a Huawei Technologies Co (華為) artificial intelligence (AI) processor, according to two people familiar with the matter. Sophgo had ordered chips from TSMC that matched the one found on Huawei’s Ascend 910B, the people said. Huawei is restricted from buying the technology to protect US national security. Reuters could not determine how the chip ended up on the Huawei product. Sophgo said in a statement on its Web site yesterday that it was in compliance with all laws
SPEED OF LIGHT: US lawmakers urged the commerce department to examine the national security threats from China’s development of silicon photonics technology US President Joe Biden’s administration on Monday said it is finalizing rules that would limit US investments in artificial intelligence (AI) and other technology sectors in China that could threaten US national security. The rules, which were proposed in June by the US Department of the Treasury, were directed by an executive order signed by Biden in August last year covering three key sectors: semiconductors and microelectronics, quantum information technologies and certain AI systems. The rules are to take effect on Jan. 2 next year and would be overseen by the Treasury’s newly created Office of Global Transactions. The Treasury said the “narrow
TECH TITANS: Nvidia briefly overtook Apple again on Friday after becoming the world’s largest company for a short period in June, as Microsoft fell to third place Nvidia Corp dethroned Apple Inc as the world’s most valuable company on Friday following a record-setting rally in the stock, powered by insatiable demand for its specialized artificial intelligence (AI) chips. Nvidia’s stock market value briefly touched US$3.53 trillion, slightly above Apple’s US$3.52 trillion, London Stock Exchange Group data showed. Nvidia ended the day up 0.8 percent, with a market value of US$3.47 trillion, while Apple’s shares rose 0.4 percent, valuing the iPhone maker at US$3.52 trillion. In June, Nvidia briefly became the world’s most valuable company before it was overtaken by Microsoft Corp and Apple. The tech trio’s market capitalizations have been
SPECULATION: The central bank cut the loan-to-value ratio for mortgages on second homes by 10 percent and denied grace periods to prevent a real-estate bubble The central bank’s board members in September agreed to tighten lending terms to induce a soft landing in the housing market, although some raised doubts that they would achieve the intended effect, the meeting’s minutes released yesterday showed. The central bank on Sept. 18 introduced harsher loan restrictions for mortgages across Taiwan in the hope of curbing housing speculation and hoarding that could create a bubble and threaten the financial system’s stability. Toward the aim, it cut the loan-to-value ratio by 10 percent for second and subsequent home mortgages and denied grace periods for first mortgages if applicants already owned other residential