Shin Kong Financial Holding Co’s (新光金控) shareholders on Friday approved a proposal to distribute a cash dividend of NT$0.4 per share, but some shareholders suggested that the company offer a higher payout to boost its share price, which has been about NT$8 in recent trading sessions.
Shin Kong Financial acting chairman Lee Tseng-chang (李增昌) said the company has over the past few years needed to set aside more of its earnings, as Shin Kong Life Insurance Co (新光人壽) would need more capital after it adopts the International Financial Reporting Standards 17 (IFRS 17) in 2026.
The company could likely pay higher cash dividends after the life insurance arm adapts to the stricter accounting rules, Lee told the company’s annual general meeting in Taipei.
Photo courtesy of Shin Kong Financial Holding Co
Shin Kong Life Insurance would also contribute more revenue after 2026, he added.
This year, Shin Kong Life Insurance has posted credit losses of NT$3.16 billion (US$107.67 million) because of its exposure to Russian bonds — greater than other Taiwanese life insurers — although its bonds have not defaulted.
The insurer has received interest income in US dollars three times and expects to receive another payment in US dollars next month, Shin Kong Financial said.
Addressing shareholders’ concerns that a merger with Taishin Financial Holding Co (台新金控) would be difficult because the firms are quite different, Shin Kong Financial independent director Shiu Yung-ming (許永明) said that the merger would be one way to enlarge the business quickly.
The company must consider all possible mergers and acquisitions for business expansion, he added.
The board of directors has agreed to conduct feasibility studies on potential mergers with other financial holding companies, Shiu said.
After several years flying high as Asia’s best Nvidia Corp proxy, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is increasingly vying with other artificial intelligence (AI) stocks for investor attention. Stock traders are chasing a wider array of beneficiaries as mainstream usage of AI creates demand for hardware beyond the most-advanced chips TSMC makes for Nvidia. Subthemes from the deepening memory crunch to advances in robotics are also luring bids. At the same time, investment caps on single stocks are pushing funds to diversify, while retail investors long familiar with TSMC through its US depositary receipts are being offered a broader set of
UNDER MICROSCOPE: Taiwan detained three people who allegedly conspired to buy servers in Taiwan and export them using fraudulent documentation, prosecutors said Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Saturday urged Super Micro Computer Inc to tighten up on compliance after Taiwan detained three people this week for allegedly making fraudulent declarations about artificial intelligence (AI) servers made by its US partner. The development marked the nation’s first crackdown on semiconductor smuggling, which grew after the US slapped restrictions on exports of high-end chips such as Nvidia AI accelerators to China. Nvidia is “rigorous” in explaining regulations to all of its partners, Huang told reporters after arriving in Taipei. “Ultimately Super Micro has to run their own company,” he said in response to
Netherlands-based semiconductor equipment supplier ASML Holding NV yesterday said that it is planning to hire an additional 1,000 people in Taiwan this year in response to growing demand from clients. ASML had previously planned to recruit 600 people this year, but that the plan has been adjusted upward, ASML vice president and ASML Taiwan general manager Grace Wang (汪佳慧) told reporters. ASML has a workforce of more than 4,500 in Taiwan, accounting for about 10 percent of its global total, Wang said. This year’s recruitment campaign would focus on adding people in the customer support, manufacturing and supply chain domains to assist ASML
TECH RELIANCE: Growth is increasingly reflecting an unequal K-shaped distribution, where technology sectors outperform and other industries struggle, an expert said Standard Chartered Bank has significantly raised its forecast for Taiwan’s economic growth to 9.5 percent this year, up from 7.6 percent previously, citing surging artificial intelligence (AI) demand driving exports, semiconductor production and investment. The upgrade reflects a sustained AI supercycle that continues to fuel demand for advanced chips and technology infrastructure, which form the backbone of Taiwan’s exports, the bank said in a report this week. “We raise our 2026 growth forecast to reflect a much stronger-than-expected first-quarter GDP figure,” Standard Chartered senior economist for greater China and Asia Tommy Wu (胡東安) said in the report. Driven largely by a 35.3 percent
RSS