State-owned Land Bank of Taiwan (土地銀行) plans to strengthen its core businesses this year as it expands its corporate and overseas lending.
The nation’s largest mortgage operator recorded NT$11.86 billion (US$405.37 million) in pre-tax income last year, the seventh consecutive year it posted above the NT$10 billion mark.
It beat the government’s budget target by 32 percent despite its share in a syndicated loan to troubled Ching Fu Shipbuilding Co (慶富造船).
“This year, Land Bank is seeking to consolidate its leadership position in land financing home loan and real-estate-backed trust operations in the local market,” chairwoman Joanne Ling (凌忠嫄) told a news conference on Tuesday.
Outstanding loans stood at NT$1.86 trillion at the end of last year, an 4.45 percent increase from a year earlier and a figure that met 98.98 percent of the government’s budget plan, Ling said.
The improvement in housing transactions and buying interest bodes well for related businesses, she said.
As the global economy remains healthy, Land Bank will search for syndicated loan opportunities and shore up relationships with small and medium-sized enterprises, which pay higher interest rates than large corporate or government borrowers, Ling said.
It also plans to increase debt positions based in foreign currencies to take advantage of interest rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve and other central banks, she said.
Local equity holdings totaled NT$3 billion last year and there is room for upward revisions, Ling said, adding that the bank prefers stocks with relatively high dividends, but low volatility.
Land Bank has a heavy dependence on interest income and should try to tap other income sources such as trusts, securities and wealth management, Ling said.
It should boost its presence abroad from the seven branches and outlets it has now, and must not miss fast-growing business opportunities provided by mobile payments and other financial technologies, she said.
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