Standard Chartered Bank Taiwan (渣打銀行) is expecting modest loan growth this year, but lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) may expand by double digits, senior executives said yesterday.
Overall lending edged up 1.5 percent to NT$355.61 billion (US$11.9 billion) last year, from NT$350.3 billion in 2011, while pre-tax income plunged 63.89 percent to NT$3.56 billion, according to statistics provided by the Financial Supervisory Commission.
The earnings accounted for just 0.63 percent of the British banking group’s total of US$19.07 billion last year, but made Taiwan the seventh-largest in terms of profit contribution among 26 markets in which Standard Chartered operates, company data showed.
The bank is seeking to take advantage of Chinese yuan-linked business, given the local market’s ample liquidity and the nation’s heavy trade with China, Standard Chartered Taiwan chief executive Ajay Kanwal said.
The bank could provide customers with tailor-made yuan-based services to strengthen their finances, Kanwal added.
Head of consumer banking Tiew Siew-chuen (張秀娟) said the potential of yuan-linked business and an improving economy bode well for the firm’s corporate and consumer banking businesses.
Despite mild loan growth, “we expect SME lending to increase by double digits this year, while consumer lending rises by mid-single digits,” Chang said.
She declined to give yuan deposit targets, but said the bank aims to be in the top 10.
To meet growing business, the bank said it would increase its Taiwanese headcount by 5 percent.
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