SinoPac Financial Holdings Co (永豐金控) is weighing whether to add a life insurance business to its portfolio, but would tread cautiously after completing three acquisitions in quick succession, president Stanley Chu (朱士廷) said yesterday.
“We are carefully considering whether life insurance should play a role in SinoPac’s business map,” Chu told reporters ahead of an earnings conference. “Our priority is to ensure the success of the deals we have already made, even though we are tracking some possible targets.”
Local media have reported that Mercuries Life Insurance Co (三商美邦人壽), which is seeking buyers amid financial strains, has invited three financial peers and one insurer — including SinoPac — to submit bids.
Photo: CNA
Chu declined to comment on specific opportunities, saying that integration of recent acquisitions King’s Town Bank (京城銀行), CL Securities Taiwan Co (台灣匯立證券) and Cambodian microfinance lender Amret PLC is the company’s main focus.
The cautious stance comes as Taiwan’s insurance industry prepares to adopt the new Insurance Capital Standard and new International Financial Reporting Standard next year.
SinoPac reported a record profit of NT$12.6 billion (US$412.37 million) in the first half of this year, up 3.4 percent from a year earlier, with earnings per share of NT$0.99.
It said its consolidated revenue increased 7.8 percent to NT$35.54 billion, led by its banking unit. Net interest income surged 46 percent to NT$17.31 billion, aided by lower US dollar funding costs and earnings from Amret. SinoPac acquired an 80 percent stake in Amret in January.
Excluding Amret, interest income still grew 29 percent year-on-year, the company said.
US tariffs could erode GDP growth across major economies next year, softening growth by 0.4 percentage points in the eurozone, 0.5 in Japan, 0.6 in the US and Taiwan, and 1.2 in China, SinoPac chief economist Jack Huang (黃蔭基) said.
Washington’s ongoing semiconductor probe, coupled with the “reciprocal” tariffs, could further shave Taiwan’s GDP growth by 1 percent, even though the artificial intelligence boom remains a key driver of its economy, he said.
Huang said that, against this backdrop, he expects the central bank to keep rates steady next month, adding that a rate cut in December is possible.
If the impact of the US’ semiconductor probe remains limited, the local bourse could rally, potentially reaching this year’s highs, he added.
The TAIEX closed up 27.72 points, or 0.11 percent, at 24,305.10 yesterday.
SETBACK: Apple’s India iPhone push has been disrupted after Foxconn recalled hundreds of Chinese engineers, amid Beijing’s attempts to curb tech transfers Apple Inc assembly partner Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), also known internationally as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has recalled about 300 Chinese engineers from a factory in India, the latest setback for the iPhone maker’s push to rapidly expand in the country. The extraction of Chinese workers from the factory of Yuzhan Technology (India) Private Ltd, a Hon Hai component unit, in southern Tamil Nadu state, is the second such move in a few months. The company has started flying in Taiwanese engineers to replace staff leaving, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be named, as the
The prices of gasoline and diesel at domestic fuel stations are to rise NT$0.1 and NT$0.4 per liter this week respectively, after international crude oil prices rose last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) announced yesterday. Effective today, gasoline prices at CPC and Formosa stations are to rise to NT$27.3, NT$28.8 and NT$30.8 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, the companies said in separate statements. The price of premium diesel is to rise to NT$26.2 per liter at CPC stations and NT$26 at Formosa pumps, they said. The announcements came after international crude oil prices
DOLLAR SIGNS: The central bank rejected claims that the NT dollar had appreciated 10 percentage points more than the yen or the won against the greenback The New Taiwan dollar yesterday fell for a sixth day to its weakest level in three months, driven by equity-related outflows and reactions to an economics official’s exchange rate remarks. The NT dollar slid NT$0.197, or 0.65 percent, to close at NT$30.505 per US dollar, central bank data showed. The local currency has depreciated 1.97 percent so far this month, ranking as the weakest performer among Asian currencies. Dealers attributed the retreat to foreign investors wiring capital gains and dividends abroad after taking profit in local shares. They also pointed to reports that Washington might consider taking equity stakes in chipmakers, including Taiwan Semiconductor
A German company is putting used electric vehicle batteries to new use by stacking them into fridge-size units that homes and businesses can use to store their excess solar and wind energy. This week, the company Voltfang — which means “catching volts” — opened its first industrial site in Aachen, Germany, near the Belgian and Dutch borders. With about 100 staff, Voltfang says it is the biggest facility of its kind in Europe in the budding sector of refurbishing lithium-ion batteries. Its CEO David Oudsandji hopes it would help Europe’s biggest economy ween itself off fossil fuels and increasingly rely on climate-friendly renewables. While
RSS