President Securities Corp (統一證券) led all listed companies in the financial services sector in average employee salary last year at NT$2.099 million (US$70,079), a 26.8 percent year-on-year increase, data released by the Taiwan Stock Exchange showed on Monday.
Shares in Taiwan surged 28.4 percent last year on record-high average daily turnover of NT$412.4 billion, leading to combined brokerage business profits of NT$96.109 billion, up 61.99 percent from 2023.
The sharp jump in profits led to a boost in salaries for employees across securities companies and the securities-driven financial holding company sector.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
Yuanta Financial Holding Co (元大金控), with Yuanta Securities Co (元大證券) as its primary securities firm, came in second at NT$2.022 million, up 20.1 percent year-on-year, while Central Reinsurance Corp (中央再保) came in third at NT$1.896 million, up 11.3 percent from the previous year, the data showed.
Yuanta Financial’s earnings per share of NT$2.77 last year ranked fourth among Taiwan’s 14 listed financial holding companies, behind Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控) at NT$10.77, Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控) at NT$7.29 and CTBC Financial Holding Co (中信金控) at NT$3.64.
In terms of average employee salary for the 14 listed financial holding companies, Yuanta Financial ranked first at NT$2.022 million, followed by CTBC Financial at NT$1.876 million, up 4.4 percent year-on-year.
Fubon Financial was the most profitable financial holding company last year, but its average employee salary was only NT$1.347 million, just ahead of Cathay Financial at NT$1.313 million.
Among listed financial holding companies with state-owned banks, Mega Financial Holding Co (兆豐金控) led with an average salary of NT$1.759 million, ranking third among all financial holding companies, and seventh across all listed financial and insurance firms.
King’s Town Bank (京城銀行) had the lowest average salary in the sector at NT$990,000, down 11.4 percent year-on-year, making it the only bank in the group with an average salary under NT$1 million.
Union Bank of Taiwan (聯邦銀行) followed at NT$1.035 million, and Taiwan Fire & Marine Insurance Co (台灣產物保險) came in third from the bottom at NT$1.076 million, the data showed.
With an approval rating of just two percent, Peruvian President Dina Boluarte might be the world’s most unpopular leader, according to pollsters. Protests greeted her rise to power 29 months ago, and have marked her entire term — joined by assorted scandals, investigations, controversies and a surge in gang violence. The 63-year-old is the target of a dozen probes, including for her alleged failure to declare gifts of luxury jewels and watches, a scandal inevitably dubbed “Rolexgate.” She is also under the microscope for a two-week undeclared absence for nose surgery — which she insists was medical, not cosmetic — and is
CAUTIOUS RECOVERY: While the manufacturing sector returned to growth amid the US-China trade truce, firms remain wary as uncertainty clouds the outlook, the CIER said The local manufacturing sector returned to expansion last month, as the official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) rose 2.1 points to 51.0, driven by a temporary easing in US-China trade tensions, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. The PMI gauges the health of the manufacturing industry, with readings above 50 indicating expansion and those below 50 signaling contraction. “Firms are not as pessimistic as they were in April, but they remain far from optimistic,” CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said at a news conference. The full impact of US tariff decisions is unlikely to become clear until later this month
GROWING CONCERN: Some senior Trump administration officials opposed the UAE expansion over fears that another TSMC project could jeopardize its US investment Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is evaluating building an advanced production facility in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and has discussed the possibility with officials in US President Donald Trump’s administration, people familiar with the matter said, in a potentially major bet on the Middle East that would only come to fruition with Washington’s approval. The company has had multiple meetings in the past few months with US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and officials from MGX, an influential investment vehicle overseen by the UAE president’s brother, the people said. The conversations are a continuation of talks that
CHIP DUTIES: TSMC said it voiced its concerns to Washington about tariffs, telling the US commerce department that it wants ‘fair treatment’ to protect its competitiveness Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday reiterated robust business prospects for this year as strong artificial intelligence (AI) chip demand from Nvidia Corp and other customers would absorb the impacts of US tariffs. “The impact of tariffs would be indirect, as the custom tax is the importers’ responsibility, not the exporters,” TSMC chairman and chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said at the chipmaker’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Hsinchu City. TSMC’s business could be affected if people become reluctant to buy electronics due to inflated prices, Wei said. In addition, the chipmaker has voiced its concern to the US Department of Commerce