Taiwanese shares end flat
Taiwanese shares ended flat yesterday as investors were reluctant to push prices higher following four days of rallies, dealers said.
The TAIEX index rose 2.87 points, or 0.04 percent, to 7,670.93 on turnover of NT$111.39 billion (US3.4 billion).
Gainers outnumbered losers 1,323 to 1,197, while 291 shares remained unchanged.
“Investors were afraid they might be trapped as the market was approaching rather high levels. They wanted to lock in their profits,” Capital Securities (群益證券) analyst Chen Yu-yu (陳育娛) said, adding that the index is currently capped at 7,800.
HSBC to open subsidiary
The Financial Supervisory Commission yesterday gave its go-ahead to an application by HSBC Asia Pacific Holdings (UK) Ltd for the establishment of a local subsidiary in Taiwan — the third of its kind following Citibank Taiwan Ltd (花旗台灣) and Standard Chartered Bank (Taiwan) Ltd (渣打國際商銀), a commission official said.
After its founding, the to-be-established HSBC Taiwan will enhance its capital to NT$26 billion (US$804.2 million) — far exceeding the statutory NT$10 billion threshold — from its current NT$4 billion with a total of 35 branches nationwide after the bank acquired The Chinese Bank (中華銀行) last December, said Lin Tung-liang (林棟樑), deputy director of the commission’s banking bureau.
HSBC Taiwan, which is slated to begin operation in May, will be chaired by Vincent Cheng (鄭海泉), with Nicholas Winsor to be its chief executive officer, Lin said.
Apart from HSBC, the Development Bank of Singapore (星展銀行) is expected to follow suit and establish a local subsidiary in Taiwan after the Singaporean bank acquired Bowa Commercial Bank (寶華銀行) in February, he said.
E.Sun reports increased profits
E.Sun Financial Holding Co (玉山金控) yesterday reported a better-than-expected NT$1.64 billion (US$50.8 million) in net income for the first 10 months of the year, or NT$0.45 per share, the financial service provider said in a statement.
Its banking unit said it expected to see a mild recovery in interest income after its net interest margin rebounded to 1.33 percent last month, and is forecast to go up further in the near future, the statement said.
Company president Joseph Huang (黃男州) told an investor conference that E.Sun plans to accelerate its expansion into China by seeking Chinese strategic partner banks for business cooperation or opening its own branches there, the statement said.
The company will prioritize setting up units in districts near the Yangtze River and Pearl River Delta, it said.
Tax shortfall passes US$7.3bn
The government saw a shortfall of NT$237 billion (US$7.3 billion) in tax revenue in the first 10 months of the year, the largest ever recorded in the country, said Lin Lee-jen (林麗貞), head of the ministry’s statistics department.
In the first 10-month period, Taiwan garnered NT$1.28 trillion in tax revenue, a decrease of NT$255 billion, or 16.6 percent year-on-year, the latest statistics released by the Ministry of Finance said on Wednesday.
Lin said she expected the tax revenue would take a turn for the better in the last part of the year, but there will still be a shortfall of NT$198 billion for this year.
Local currency loses ground
The New Taiwan dollar lost ground against the US dollar on the Taipei Foreign Exchange yesterday, declining NT$0.020 to close at NT$32.330. A total of US$994 million changed hands during the day’s trading.
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