State-run Taiwan Business Bank (TBB, 台企銀) yesterday reported record net profit of NT$7.09 billion (US$227 million) for the first three quarters of this year, up 82 percent from the same period last year, on the back of growing interest and fee income amid monetary policy tightening at home and abroad.
The earnings momentum might sustain until the end of this year or early next year, as the US Federal Reserve is expected to continue to raise policy rates to curb inflation and Taiwan’s central bank would likely follow suit with milder hikes to narrow the gap between the two nation’s interest rates, TBB told an online investors’ conference.
Cumulative net profits in the first three quarters were NT$8.3 billion, or earnings per share of NT$0.88, company data showed.
Photo: Chen Mei-ying, Taipei Times
Interest income grew 14.32 percent year-on-year to NT$15.14 billion for the first nine months, while fee income advanced 24.1 percent year-on-year to NT$3.06 billion, the lender said.
Growth in loan, wealth management and financial product transactions lent support to fee incomes, TBB officials said.
Outstanding loans expanded 8.4 percent annually to NT$13.33 trillion, compared with a 10.9 percent increase in deposits to NT$17.27 trillion, the bank said.
TBB would continue to build up deposits in overseas markets to take advantage of wider interest spread, the lender said.
The bank would also focus on providing loans to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), after its loans to SMEs rose 9.4 percent to NT$674.2 billion for the first three quarters, it said.
The bank would focus on asset quality while adjusting its loan structure to improve profitability, officials said, adding that its bad-loan ratio fell to 0.2 percent and its coverage ratio rose to 619.5 percent at the end of September, the best showings in the past two years.
Interest spread was 1.38 percent and net interest income was 0.98 percent, significantly higher than last year, but loan demand is expected to slow in light of higher borrowing costs, the bank said.
Like its peers, TBB incurred losses of NT$7.1 billion in other comprehensive incomes because of bond value downturns, so it would avoid building bond positions and favor short-term debts instead, the bank said.
The strategy paid off as related losses had been mitigated last month, TBB officials said.
However, they were reluctant to give statements on the bank’s dividend policy for next year, saying that the board would factor in full-year earnings and other considerations before reaching a decision next year.
TBB shares yesterday closed flat at NT$12.75, weaker than the TAIEX’s 0.46 percent gain.
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
Chizuko Kimura has become the first female sushi chef in the world to win a Michelin star, fulfilling a promise she made to her dying husband to continue his legacy. The 54-year-old Japanese chef regained the Michelin star her late husband, Shunei Kimura, won three years ago for their Sushi Shunei restaurant in Paris. For Shunei Kimura, the star was a dream come true. However, the joy was short-lived. He died from cancer just three months later in June 2022. He was 65. The following year, the restaurant in the heart of Montmartre lost its star rating. Chizuko Kimura insisted that the new star is still down
While China’s leaders use their economic and political might to fight US President Donald Trump’s trade war “to the end,” its army of social media soldiers are embarking on a more humorous campaign online. Trump’s tariff blitz has seen Washington and Beijing impose eye-watering duties on imports from the other, fanning a standoff between the economic superpowers that has sparked global recession fears and sent markets into a tailspin. Trump says his policy is a response to years of being “ripped off” by other countries and aims to bring manufacturing to the US, forcing companies to employ US workers. However, China’s online warriors