Local banks’ combined loans to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) rose by NT$113.84 billion (US$4.06 billion) in May, the second-largest monthly increase after a rise of NT$140 billion in July last year, as banks extended more loans to companies affected by a nationwide level 3 COVID-19 alert, the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) said on Tuesday.
Aggregated SME loans in May totaled NT$8.11 trillion, accounting for 67 percent of all corporate loans granted by banks, with a 0.33 percent non-performing loan ratio, flat from a month earlier, commission data showed.
In the first five months of this year, banks had boosted SME loans by NT$305.9 billion, exceeding the commission’s goal of NT$300 billion.
Hua Nan Commercial Bank (華南銀行) in the first five months approved NT$38.3 billion for SMEs, the most among all banks, followed by Taiwan Cooperative Bank (合庫銀行) with NT$28.1 billion, Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行) with NT$23.9 billion, Bank SinoPac (永豐銀行) with NT$21.83 billion and Taiwan Business Bank (台灣企銀) with NT$21.81 billion, the data showed.
Separately, combined pretax profit at 20 Hong Kong branches of local banks sank 81 percent year-on-year to NT$880 million in the first quarter due to weakening lending momentum and more loan-loss provisions, separate commission data showed last week.
Combined loans at Hong Kong branches decreased 16 percent year-on-year in the first quarter to NT$536.1 billion, while combined deposits fell 3.12 percent to NT$1.99 trillion, the data showed.
The branches turned more conservative in the first quarter, leading to lower syndicated loans, the commission said.
They also generated less interest income and set aside more loan-loss provisions amid worries about lower spread and loan quality, it said.
Taiwan’s 15 financial holding companies reported that their combined exposure in Hong Kong at the end of March decreased 6.7 percent from a year earlier to NT$891 billion, placing the territory fifth in terms of overseas exposure, down one notch from the end of last year, the commission said.
Including local lenders’ subsidiary banks in Hong Kong, combined pretax profits from operations in the territory were NT$4.32 billion at the end of March, down 47 percent from a year earlier, the commission said.
Hong Kong nonetheless remained the most profitable market for banks’ overseas operations, it added.
STILL HOPEFUL: Delayed payment of NT$5.35 billion from an Indian server client sent its earnings plunging last year, but the firm expects a gradual pickup ahead Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), the world’s No. 5 PC vendor, yesterday reported an 87 percent slump in net profit for last year, dragged by a massive overdue payment from an Indian cloud service provider. The Indian customer has delayed payment totaling NT$5.35 billion (US$162.7 million), Asustek chief financial officer Nick Wu (吳長榮) told an online earnings conference. Asustek shipped servers to India between April and June last year. The customer told Asustek that it is launching multiple fundraising projects and expected to repay the debt in the short term, Wu said. The Indian customer accounted for less than 10 percent to Asustek’s
‘DECENT RESULTS’: The company said it is confident thanks to an improving world economy and uptakes in new wireless and AI technologies, despite US uncertainty Pegatron Corp (和碩) yesterday said it plans to build a new server manufacturing factory in the US this year to address US President Donald Trump’s new tariff policy. That would be the second server production base for Pegatron in addition to the existing facilities in Taoyuan, the iPhone assembler said. Servers are one of the new businesses Pegatron has explored in recent years to develop a more balanced product lineup. “We aim to provide our services from a location in the vicinity of our customers,” Pegatron president and chief executive officer Gary Cheng (鄭光治) told an online earnings conference yesterday. “We
LEAK SOURCE? There would be concern over the possibility of tech leaks if TSMC were to form a joint venture to operate Intel’s factories, an analyst said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday stayed mum after a report said that the chipmaker has pitched chip designers Nvidia Corp, Advanced Micro Devices Inc and Broadcom Inc about taking a stake in a joint venture to operate Intel Corp’s factories. Industry sources told the Central News Agency (CNA) that the possibility of TSMC proposing to operate Intel’s wafer fabs is low, as the Taiwanese chipmaker has always focused on its core business. There is also concern over possible technology leaks if TSMC were to form a joint venture to operate Intel’s factories, Concord Securities Co (康和證券) analyst Kerry Huang (黃志祺)
It was late morning and steam was rising from water tanks atop the colorful, but opaque-windowed, “soapland” sex parlors in a historic Tokyo red-light district. Walking through the narrow streets, camera in hand, was Beniko — a former sex worker who is trying to capture the spirit of the area once known as Yoshiwara through photography. “People often talk about this neighborhood having a ‘bad history,’” said Beniko, who goes by her nickname. “But the truth is that through the years people have lived here, made a life here, sometimes struggled to survive. I want to share that reality.” In its mid-17th to
RSS