Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控) yesterday reported a net profit of NT$4.15 billion (US$139.18 million) for last month and cumulative profit of NT$69.37 billion for the first half of the year, down 67 percent and 20 percent respectively from a year earlier.
The company attributed the decline to Fubon Insurance Co’s (富邦產險) net losses of NT$3.36 billion from compensation for COVID-19 insurance policyholders, compared with a net income of NT$4.29 billion a year earlier.
Its subsidiaries Fubon Life Insurance Co (富邦人壽) and Fubon Securities Co (富邦證券) registered annual declines of 3.6 percent and 64 percent respectively in net income in the first half due to a global equity rout.
Photo courtesy of Fubon Financial Holding Co
Bucking the trend, Taipei Fubon Commercial Bank (台北富邦銀行) reported that net profit expanded 25 percent during the same period to NT$11 billion thanks to interest rate hikes.
Separately, Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控), the nation’s largest financial services provider by assets, reported that net profit in the first six months of the year declined 46 percent to NT$49 billion from a year earlier.
Subsidiaries Cathay Life Insurance Co’s (國泰人壽) net profit was halved to NT$40.2 billion from a year earlier because of lower investment gains, and Cathay Securities Co’s (國泰證券) net profit fell 34.5 percent to NT$740 million because of reduced local stock transactions.
Like Fubon Insurance, Cathay Century Insurance Co (國泰世紀產險) also registered a net loss of NT$2.3 billion for the first six months, as it paid NT$2.1 billion in compensation to COVID-19 insurance policyholders.
Cathay Century Insurance forecast that its total compensation would hit NT$4.13 billion, and to buttress its financial strength, it had submitted an application to use reserves of NT$2.88 billion to write off the losses, it said.
Its risk-based capital (RBC) ratio stood at 460 percent at the end of last month, higher than the regulatory threshold of 200 percent.
For the first half of this year, Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行) reported a net profit of NT$13.46 billion, up 10 percent year-on-year, and Cathay Securities Investment Trust Co (國泰投信) reported a record net profit of NT$830 million, up 18 percent annually.
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