Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控), Taiwan’s second-largest financial service provider by assets, earned NT$2.84 billion (US$96.59 million) in net income last month, a significant rise from the NT$2.25 billion it earned in August, as financial markets stabilized somewhat, the company said in a stock filing yesterday.
The improvement came even though the conglomerate had to set aside NT$650 million in provision to compensate for a possible earnings shortfall at affiliated Taiwan Sports Lottery Corp (運彩科技), the filing said.
Fubon Life Insurance Co (富邦人壽) generated the bulk of earnings, NT$2.27 billion, last month, compared with a meager NT$700 million in August, as foreign currency exchange losses eased, company data showed.
Taipei Fubon Commercial Bank Co (台北富邦銀行) reported NT$790 million in net income last month, weakening from NT$1.07 billion one month earlier, the filing said.
Net profits at Fubon Financial totaled NT$12.12 billion in the third quarter, almost tripling earnings in the second quarter, thanks to cash dividends sized at NT$8.46 billion this year, company data showed.
Cumulative net income amounted to NT$23.08 billion for the first nine months, or NT$2.43 earnings per share (EPS), according to the filing.
Fubon Financial has been mum on reported plans to acquire a majority share in First Sino Bank (華一銀行) to accelerate its expansion in China after its chairman Daniel Tsai (蔡明忠) was seen paying a visit to the Financial Supervisory Commission last week.
Local media said Tsai sought to clarify whether the company’s share acquisition bid falls in line with cross-strait investment rules since China caps foreign stakes in Chinese lenders at 20 percent.
Many suspect that the lender is not subject to the restriction because foreign investors own a majority stake in First Sino. Fubon Financial reportedly plans to make the acquisition via its Hong Kong subsidiary
Separately, state-run Mega Financial Holding Co (兆豐金控) posted NT$1.59 billion in net income last month, raising cumulative profits to NT$17.78 billion, or EPS of NT$1.55, the company said in a stock filing.
Chinatrust Financial Holding Co (中信金控), owner of the nation’s largest credit card issuer — Chinatrust Commercial Bank (中信銀行) — reported NT$1.37 billion in net income last month.
Total earnings equaled NT$15.52 billion as of last month, translating into EPS of NT$1.22, the company said in a statement last week.
Shiina Ito has had fewer Chinese customers at her Tokyo jewelry shop since Beijing issued a travel warning in the wake of a diplomatic spat, but she said she was not concerned. A souring of Tokyo-Beijing relations this month, following remarks by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi about Taiwan, has fueled concerns about the impact on the ritzy boutiques, noodle joints and hotels where holidaymakers spend their cash. However, businesses in Tokyo largely shrugged off any anxiety. “Since there are fewer Chinese customers, it’s become a bit easier for Japanese shoppers to visit, so our sales haven’t really dropped,” Ito
The number of Taiwanese working in the US rose to a record high of 137,000 last year, driven largely by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) rapid overseas expansion, according to government data released yesterday. A total of 666,000 Taiwanese nationals were employed abroad last year, an increase of 45,000 from 2023 and the highest level since the COVID-19 pandemic, data from the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) showed. Overseas employment had steadily increased between 2009 and 2019, peaking at 739,000, before plunging to 319,000 in 2021 amid US-China trade tensions, global supply chain shifts, reshoring by Taiwanese companies and
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) received about NT$147 billion (US$4.71 billion) in subsidies from the US, Japanese, German and Chinese governments over the past two years for its global expansion. Financial data compiled by the world’s largest contract chipmaker showed the company secured NT$4.77 billion in subsidies from the governments in the third quarter, bringing the total for the first three quarters of the year to about NT$71.9 billion. Along with the NT$75.16 billion in financial aid TSMC received last year, the chipmaker obtained NT$147 billion in subsidies in almost two years, the data showed. The subsidies received by its subsidiaries —
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) Chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) and the company’s former chairman, Mark Liu (劉德音), both received the Robert N. Noyce Award -- the semiconductor industry’s highest honor -- in San Jose, California, on Thursday (local time). Speaking at the award event, Liu, who retired last year, expressed gratitude to his wife, his dissertation advisor at the University of California, Berkeley, his supervisors at AT&T Bell Laboratories -- where he worked on optical fiber communication systems before joining TSMC, TSMC partners, and industry colleagues. Liu said that working alongside TSMC