Taiwan Business Bank (台灣企銀) yesterday said it is seeking to improve profitability this year by expanding loans to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and overseas operations as they generate higher margins.
The state-run lender made the announcement after posting NT$2.12 billion (US$72.74 million) in net income for the first quarter — its highest in two-and-a-half years — or earnings per share of NT$0.27.
The lender’s efforts to enhance asset quality and diversify sources of income have started to pay off, bank officials told an online investors’ conference, adding that increases in wealth management and fee income helped offset losses linked to volatile financial markets.
Photo: Chen Mei-ying, Taipei Times
The uptrend is expected to continue for the rest of this year, benefiting from monetary tightening cycles at home and abroad, the officials said.
As of March, lending to small and medium-sized enterprises totaled NT$66.85 billion, an increase of 10.04 percent from a year earlier, they said, adding that the business would continue to provide momentum to loan growth this year.
Interest spread widened from 1.31 percent in March to 1.42 percent last month, following the central bank’s interest rate hike of 25 basis points on March 17, the officials said.
The gap would increase if the central bank raises interest rates later this year, in line with global peers, they added.
Taiwan Business Bank said it would hold mortgage operations steady by focusing on first-home buyers and people with real demand, while supporting selective credit controls on multiple-home mortgages.
Banks intent on active mortgage lending would have to demonstrate higher capital adequacy to meet stricter risk requirements.
Taiwan Business Bank said it would also work toward improving business at its branches in Australia, China, Hong Kong and the US, with the aim of boosting their revenue contributions to 20 percent this year.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, booked its first-ever profit from its Arizona subsidiary in the first half of this year, four years after operations began, a company financial statement showed. Wholly owned by TSMC, the Arizona unit contributed NT$4.52 billion (US$150.1 million) in net profit, compared with a loss of NT$4.34 billion a year earlier, the statement showed. The company attributed the turnaround to strong market demand and high factory utilization. The Arizona unit counts Apple Inc, Nvidia Corp and Advanced Micro Devices Inc among its major customers. The firm’s first fab in Arizona began high-volume production
VOTE OF CONFIDENCE: The Japanese company is adding Intel to an investment portfolio that includes artificial intelligence linchpins Nvidia Corp and TSMC Softbank Group Corp agreed to buy US$2 billion of Intel Corp stock, a surprise deal to shore up a struggling US name while boosting its own chip ambitions. The Japanese company, which is adding Intel to an investment portfolio that includes artificial intelligence (AI) linchpins Nvidia Corp and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), is to pay US$23 a share — a small discount to Intel’s last close. Shares of the US chipmaker, which would issue new stock to Softbank, surged more than 5 percent in after-hours trading. Softbank’s stock fell as much as 5.4 percent on Tuesday in Tokyo, its
COLLABORATION: Softbank would supply manufacturing gear to the factory, and a joint venture would make AI data center equipment, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) would operate a US factory owned by Softbank Group Corp, setting up what is in the running to be the first manufacturing site in the Japanese company’s US$500 billion Stargate venture with OpenAI and Oracle Corp. Softbank is acquiring Hon Hai’s electric-vehicle plant in Ohio, but the Taiwanese company would continue to run the complex after turning it into an artificial intelligence (AI) server production plant, Hon Hai chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) said yesterday. Softbank would supply manufacturing gear to the factory, and a joint venture between the two companies would make AI data
The Taiwan Automation Intelligence and Robot Show, which is to be held from Wednesday to Saturday at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, would showcase the latest in artificial intelligence (AI)-driven robotics and automation technologies, the organizer said yesterday. The event would highlight applications in smart manufacturing, as well as information and communications technology, the Taiwan Automation Intelligence and Robotics Association said. More than 1,000 companies are to display innovations in semiconductors, electromechanics, industrial automation and intelligent manufacturing, it said in a news release. Visitors can explore automated guided vehicles, 3D machine vision systems and AI-powered applications at the show, along
RSS