State-run Mega Financial Holding Co (兆豐金控) aims to reach profitability for the rest of year by boosting corporate lending, retail banking and overseas operations, company officials told an online investors’ conference yesterday.
The banking-focused conglomerate posted NT$2.67 billion (US$96.21 million) in net income for last month, with main subsidiary Mega International Commercial Bank (兆豐銀行) contributing NT$2.1 billion, or 78.05 percent, company data showed.
Cumulative profit was NT$17.9 billion in the first eight months, or earnings per share of NT$1.32, up from NT$0.92 per share for just the first half of the year.
Photo courtesy of Mega International Bank
“The macro-environment has improved as the world becomes better equipped in dealing with the [COVID-19] pandemic,” Mega Financial president David Hu (胡光華) said, referring to vaccine rollouts worldwide.
Overseas banking branches and outlets in the US, Australia and Cambodia gained momentum this year and might continue to be bright spots for income growth, officials said.
Mega Bank, which specializes in international trade financing, has 37 branches worldwide, with 20 in Southeast Asia and Australia, to support the government’s New Southbound Policy to encourage investment outside of China.
Net income from banking operations in Australia soared 175 percent in the first eight months of the year, thanks to effective virus controls in the country, officials said.
Mega Financial said it saw an opportunity to deepen lending with local semiconductor and petrochemical firms that have announced plans to invest in the US and elsewhere.
The government’s promotion of renewable energy sources and a global embrace of 5G technologies would also generate loan demand, Mega Financial said.
In the meantime, Mega Bank would look for more syndicated loan opportunities to consolidate its leadership position in the market, officials said.
Domestically, Mega Bank gained significant headway in growing consumer banking, with double-digit percentage increases in mortgage operations in the past 19 months and credit card spending in the first half of the year, officials said.
Upcoming anniversary sales at local department stores would also help bolster credit card spending, officials said, adding that Mega Bank would come up with its own measures to amplify the effects of the government’s Quintuple Stimulus Vouchers, set to be issued next month.
Shares in Mega Financial ended down 0.62 percent to NT$32.3 yesterday, bucking the TAIEX’s 0.2 percent rise, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
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