Cathay Financial Holding Co’s (國泰金控) shareholders on Friday approved the company’s proposal to raise up to NT$50 billion (US$1.78 billion) in new capital to fund future mergers and acquisitions (M&As).
The financial conglomerate plans to issue fewer than 1 billion new shares to raise funds at an appropriate time, it told shareholders at an annual general meeting in Taipei.
Cathay Financial aims to build a comprehensive financial platform in the Greater China and Southeast Asia markets, president Lee Chang-ken (李長庚) told the meeting.
Photo courtesy of Cathay Financial Holding Co
The company’s banking arm, Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行), has opened units in nine countries in Southeast Asia, while its insurance subsidiaries have branches in Vietnam, Lee said.
“There is still tremendous room for expansion,” he said.
Cathay Life Insurance Co (國泰人壽) last year posted a loss of NT$8.8 billion from an investment in Indonesia’s PT Bank Mayapada Internasional Tbk, but Lee said that it “was only an isolated case” and would not restrict the company’s investment in Southeast Asia.
However, the spread of COVID-19 infections has limited cross-border movement, as well as slowed the company’s onsite review and due diligence regarding target companies, Lee said.
The pandemic has had different repercussions on various industries and countries, but it has also revealed some favorable M&A opportunities for the firm, he added.
Cathay United Bank has had a decline in lending and wealth management demand due to COVID-19, but the pandemic’s impact on the Taiwanese economy is likely to diminish as the vaccination rate rises and stricter anti-virus measures are lifted, Lee said.
Sales in Cathay Life Insurance are expected to improve in the second half of the year as the government plans to lower a level 3 COVID-19 alert to level 2, which would allow the company’s sales agents to visit clients in person, he added.
“As the COVID-19 pandemic has been predicted to become a seasonal illness like the flu, we expect the virus’ impact on the global economy to decrease,” Lee said.
Nonetheless, CTBC Financial Holding Co (中信金控) chairman Yen Wen-long (顏文隆) told the company’s shareholders on Friday that the global economy is yet to face challenges this year, as the difficulty of forecasting the pandemic’s development is likely to mean high volatility in financial markets.
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) is expected to share his views about the artificial intelligence (AI) industry’s prospects during his speech at the company’s 37th anniversary ceremony, as AI servers have become a new growth engine for the equipment manufacturing service provider. Lam’s speech is much anticipated, as Quanta has risen as one of the world’s major AI server suppliers. The company reported a 30 percent year-on-year growth in consolidated revenue to NT$1.41 trillion (US$43.35 billion) last year, thanks to fast-growing demand for servers, especially those with AI capabilities. The company told investors in November last year that
Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said it plans to ship its new 1 megawatt charging systems for electric trucks and buses in the first half of next year at the earliest. The new charging piles, which deliver up to 1 megawatt of charging power, are designed for heavy-duty electric vehicles, and support a maximum current of 1,500 amperes and output of 1,250 volts, Delta said in a news release. “If everything goes smoothly, we could begin shipping those new charging systems as early as in the first half of next year,” a company official said. The new
RSS