Fubon Life Insurance Co (富邦人壽) on Wednesday sold US$650 million of 10.25-year subordinated bonds at a coupon rate of 5.45 percent, parent Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控) said in a regulatory filing yesterday.
The insurer would use the proceeds to supplement and strengthen its working capital and financial structure, as well as increase its capital adequacy ratio as it is to adopt the nation’s new solvency system for the insurance industry, known as TW-ICS, next year, the filing said.
The bonds were issued by the insurer’s wholly owned offshore special purpose vehicle (SPV), Fubon Life Singapore Pte Ltd, with Fubon Life Insurance serving as the guarantor, which would unconditionally and irrevocably guarantee full payment, when due, of the principal and interest of the bonds, it said in a separate statement.
Photo: CNA
Fubon Life Insurance’s board of directors in April approved the establishment of the SPV in Singapore to help raise funds and bolster its financial health.
The sale also marks the first time a Taiwanese insurer has issued US dollar-denominated bonds with a par call option in global bond markets, which allows the insurer to redeem the debt within three months before maturity at its par value — helping reduce interest costs in the event of early refinancing, Fubon Life Insurance said.
The insurer said it held roadshows in Singapore and Hong Kong from Monday to Tuesday and received positive feedback from investors.
The insurer’s first bond sale in overseas markets was nearly three times oversubscribed, drawing more than US$1.9 billion in orders, it added.
Asia-Pacific investors accounted for 86 percent of the buyers of the bonds, it said.
In terms of investor structure, fund managers or asset management firms accounted for 82 percent, insurance companies or pension funds made up 11 percent, while banks, private banking and others contributed 7 percent, it added.
Fubon Life Insurance — along with other Taiwanese life insurers such as Cathay Life Insurance Co (國泰人壽), Nan Shan Life Insurance Co (南山人壽) and Shin Kong Life Insurance Co (新光人壽) — faces heightened risks to its earnings, capitalization and business-risk profile following the New Taiwan dollar’s 8 percent surge against the US dollar over two days in early May, Fitch Ratings has said.
Soaring foreign-currency hedging costs and the potential for further appreciation in the NT dollar would elevate the insurer’s risks going forward, the ratings agency said.
Netherlands-based semiconductor equipment supplier ASML Holding NV yesterday said that it is planning to hire an additional 1,000 people in Taiwan this year in response to growing demand from clients. ASML had previously planned to recruit 600 people this year, but that the plan has been adjusted upward, ASML vice president and ASML Taiwan general manager Grace Wang (汪佳慧) told reporters. ASML has a workforce of more than 4,500 in Taiwan, accounting for about 10 percent of its global total, Wang said. This year’s recruitment campaign would focus on adding people in the customer support, manufacturing and supply chain domains to assist ASML
Starlux Airlines Co (星宇航空) today unveiled a long-haul network expansion plan at a shareholders’ meeting in Taipei, including direct flights to Barcelona, Spain, and Zurich, Switzerland, as well as a service connecting Taipei, Sydney and New Zealand. Starlux is to become the first Taiwanese carrier to offer non-stop services to the two European cities, while the inaugural oceanic route is expected to expand transit opportunities within the Australia-New Zealand market, Starlux said. Flight services to Chicago, Dallas, Washington and New York are under evaluation, the airline added. Prior to the shareholders’ meeting, the airline earlier this year announced that it would be
UNDER MICROSCOPE: Taiwan detained three people who allegedly conspired to buy servers in Taiwan and export them using fraudulent documentation, prosecutors said Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Saturday urged Super Micro Computer Inc to tighten up on compliance after Taiwan detained three people this week for allegedly making fraudulent declarations about artificial intelligence (AI) servers made by its US partner. The development marked the nation’s first crackdown on semiconductor smuggling, which grew after the US slapped restrictions on exports of high-end chips such as Nvidia AI accelerators to China. Nvidia is “rigorous” in explaining regulations to all of its partners, Huang told reporters after arriving in Taipei. “Ultimately Super Micro has to run their own company,” he said in response to
Nvidia Corp yesterday announced that CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) would attend an employee meeting in Taipei tomorrow to celebrate the launch of the company’s Taiwan headquarters project. Huang would attend a gathering at the site of Nvidia’s planned headquarters in Beitou Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區), the company said in a statement. After arriving in Taiwan on Saturday last week, Huang told reporters that he plans to meet with Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家), and would attend the groundbreaking ceremony for Nvidia’s Taiwan headquarters tomorrow. Nvidia has not yet applied
RSS