Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控), the nation’s largest financial service provider by assets, posted NT$2.12 billion (US$70.67 million) in net income for last month, up 19.21 percent from February and 18.44 percent from a year earlier, the company said in a statement.
The company attributed the increase to recovering business at its life insurance and banking subsidiaries, with Cathay Life Insurance Co (國泰人壽) contributing NT$1.45 billion in profit and NT$1.31 billion from Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行).
Cathay Financial said its life insurer continued to benefit from unrealized gains in real-estate investments as allowed by new accounting rules, boosting the unit’s profit by 64.38 percent last month and raising its earnings per share (EPS) to NT$0.73, from NT$.026 without the benefit.
In the first quarter, Cathay Financial accumulated NT$6.93 billion in net profit with EPS of NT$0.64, ranking third after Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控) at NT$1.05 and Shin Kong Financial Holding Co (新光金控) at NT$0.88, company data showed.
Meanwhile, the state-run Hua Nan Financial Holding Co (華南金控) reported NT$930 million in net income last month, the company said in a statement yesterday.
Hua Nan's cumulative earnings totaled NT$2.61 billion in the first three months, equivalent to EPS of NT$0.3 and tying with Taiwan Cooperative Financial Holding Co (合庫金控) in 10th place among their listed peers, company statistics indicated.
On Monday, Taishin Financial Holding Co (台新金控) reported first-quarter earnings of NT$4.23 billion, or EPS of NT$0.58, while SinoPac Financial Holding Co (永豐金控) said its cumulative net profits rose 3.4 times to NT$3.07 billion in the first quarter from the previous year, with EPS of NT$0.41.
Real estate agent and property developer JSL Construction & Development Co (愛山林) led the average compensation rankings among companies listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) last year, while contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) finished 14th. JSL Construction paid its employees total average compensation of NT$4.78 million (US$159,701), down 13.5 percent from a year earlier, but still ahead of the most profitable listed tech giants, including TSMC, TWSE data showed. Last year, the average compensation (which includes salary, overtime, bonuses and allowances) paid by TSMC rose 21.6 percent to reach about NT$3.33 million, lifting its ranking by 10 notches
SEASONAL WEAKNESS: The combined revenue of the top 10 foundries fell 5.4%, but rush orders and China’s subsidies partially offset slowing demand Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) further solidified its dominance in the global wafer foundry business in the first quarter of this year, remaining far ahead of its closest rival, Samsung Electronics Co, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. TSMC posted US$25.52 billion in sales in the January-to-March period, down 5 percent from the previous quarter, but its market share rose from 67.1 percent the previous quarter to 67.6 percent, TrendForce said in a report. While smartphone-related wafer shipments declined in the first quarter due to seasonal factors, solid demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) devices and urgent TV-related orders
Prices of gasoline and diesel products at domestic fuel stations are this week to rise NT$0.2 and NT$0.3 per liter respectively, after international crude oil prices increased last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. International crude oil prices last week snapped a two-week losing streak as the geopolitical situation between Russia and Ukraine turned increasingly tense, CPC said in a statement. News that some oil production facilities in Alberta, Canada, were shut down due to wildfires and that US-Iran nuclear talks made no progress also helped push oil prices to a significant weekly gain, Formosa said
MINERAL DIPLOMACY: The Chinese commerce ministry said it approved applications for the export of rare earths in a move that could help ease US-China trade tensions Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰) is today to meet a US delegation for talks in the UK, Beijing announced on Saturday amid a fragile truce in the trade dispute between the two powers. He is to visit the UK from yesterday to Friday at the invitation of the British government, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. He and US representatives are to cochair the first meeting of the US-China economic and trade consultation mechanism, it said. US President Donald Trump on Friday announced that a new round of trade talks with China would start in London beginning today,
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