State-run Taiwan Business Bank (TBB, 台灣企銀) said it plans to continue to focus on overseas markets amid slow economic growth and unfavorable interest conditions at home.
The company reported that net income last year rose 16.2 percent annually to NT$6.17 billion (US$188.3 million), translating to earnings per share of NT$0.9, with aggregate net income in the first two months of this year rising 7.08 percent annually to NT$1.09 billion.
The company said that offshore operations last year contributed 31 percent of overall pretax earnings and the trend is expected to continue this year as it expands its offshore banking units.
TBB plans to open its New York branch in the second half of this year, while its application to open a branch in Tokyo has been approved by the Financial Supervisory Commission in January.
The company has six overseas branches in Shanghai, Wuhan, Hong Kong, Brisbane, Sydney and Los Angeles, as well as a representative office in Yangon, Myanmar, and operates a microfinance unit in Cambodia.
For the Taiwanese market, the company said it will focus on retirement and long-term care products geared toward elderly people, improve digital channels and focus on the nation’s small to medium-sized industrial enterprises.
TBB chairman Robert Chu (朱潤逢) said that last year’s profits had made a tremendous leap from the NT$806 million in 2006.
The firm has been on a decade-long drive to improve its performance in earnings from lending, fees income, foreign exchange businesses and risk exposure coverage, Chu said in the first earnings conference hosted by TBB since 2006.
“For too long, our share prices have hovered below the face value of NT$10, which has contrained the company’s ability to raise funds, Chu said.
“We hope to showcase our progress over the past decade, and help investors get more familiar with our value and operation through improved transparency,” he said.
Chu said that as of last month, TBB’s book value per share stood at NT$12.32.
TBB shares gained 0.12 percent to NT$8.53 in Taipei trading yesterday.
In related news, the Financial Supervisory Commission on Thursday fined the lender NT$4 million for its failure to detect that one of its employees had misappropriated NT$200 million in clients’ funds between 2006 and last year.
TBB said that the employee in question had been terminated and the funds returned to the clients.
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