All Chinese branches of Taiwanese banks made a profit in the first half of the year, with the branch of Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行) topping peers in earnings ability, the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) said.
Altogether, 10 Taiwanese lenders own branches in China with total profits of NT$717 million (US$23.89 million) during the January-to-June period, the commission’s latest statistics showed.
The Shanghai branch of Cathay United Bank outperformed peers with a net profit of NT$179 million, trailed by state-run First Commercial Bank (第一銀行) with NT$141 million and Mega International Commercial Bank (兆豐銀行) with NT$74 million.
Jean Chiu (邱淑貞), deputy director-general of the FSC’s banking bureau, attributed the earnings to interest income.
Taiwanese banks own assets valued at NT$100.2 billion in China with NT$35.72 billion in outstanding loans and NT$8.56 billion in deposits, the FSC said, adding that the lenders employ 245 professionals, each generating NT$2.93 million earnings.
Two of the three Chinese lenders with operations in Taiwan, Bank of China (中國銀行) and the Bank of Communications (交通銀行) reported an overall profit of NT$133 million for the first six months, the commission said.
China Construction Bank (中國建設銀行), which set up a Taipei branch in June, has yet to file its earnings report, the commission said.
Meanwhile, securities companies operating in Taiwan turned a profit last month, helped by the local bourse’s higher turnover during the month, the Taiwan Stock Exchange said yesterday.
The stock exchange said rising share prices last month had encouraged investors to jump into the market, driving up daily turnover and strengthening the bottom lines of securities firms operating in Taiwan.
Last month, the TAIEX rose 45.73 points, or about 1 percent, month-on-month to 8,107.94, while average daily turnover rose 4 percent month-on-month to NT$84.4 billion (US$2.81 billion).
The 82 securities firms in Taiwan had a combined net profit of NT$3.29 billion last month, compared with a net loss of NT$383 million in June, according to the stock exchange’s statistics. Among the 82 securities companies, 64 were profitable during the month and 18 suffered losses, the exchange said. The nation’s only futures commission merchant — Yuanta Futures Co (元大期貨) — reported a net loss of NT$36 million for the month.
In the first seven months of the year, the 82 securities companies posted NT$10.68 billion in net profit. KGI Securities Co (凱基證券) led the pack with a net profit of more than NT$2 billion during the period.
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