Shin Kong Life Insurance Co (新光人壽) said yesterday it would continue to offer high-margin products such as traditional life policies to increase profits, with an objective of NT$70 billion (US$2.2 billion) in premiums from new insurance contracts this year.
“This year, we will focus on sales of traditional life and medical policies and roll out investment-linked policies toward the end of March,” Shin Kong Life president Pan Po-cheng (潘柏錚) told an investor conference.
Pan said products designed by the company in cooperation with Japan’s Dai-ichi Mutual Life Insurance company would also be available starting in May, adding that the line of products would be adjusted in the second half of this year.
Shin Kong Life reported a net income of NT$110 million last year, with a return rate of 4.47 percent and a return on equity of 0.26 percent, data by parent company Shin Kong Financial Holding Co (新光金控) released to investors yesterday showed.
Shin Kong Financial turned profitable in the fourth quarter of last year with a net profit of NT$1.41 billion and posted after-tax earnings of NT$1.13 billion, or NT$0.17 per share, for the full year.
The financial group’s banking unit, Shin Kong Commercial Bank (新光銀行), posted steady growth last year as its net profit after tax climbed 146.6 percent year-on-year to NT$560 million, Shin Kong Financial senior assistant manager Sunny Hsu (徐順鋆) said.
In the fourth quarter of last year, the bank’s net interest margin rose to 1.54 percent, while its non-performing loan ratio dropped to 1.42 percent with a loan-loss coverage ratio of 75.37 percent.
Its asset quality continued to improve, Hsu said.
This year, Shin Kong Bank aims to expand its loan businesses with enterprises while maintaining steady growth in loan businesses with individuals.
The bank is planning to set up a branch in Hong Kong in its effort to expand into the Asian-Pacific region and to develop businesses with China-based Taiwanese businesspeople, Hsu said.
Separately, Shin Kong Financial is considering a merger with Masterlink Securities Corp (元富證券) at an appropriate time this year, Shin Kong Financial president Victor Hsu (許澎) told reporters on the sidelines of the conference.
Shin Kong Financial holds a 25 percent stake in the securities company, with which it maintains a close strategic alliance, Hsu said.
Shares of Shin Kong Financial rose 2.15 percent to NT$11.9 on the Taiwan Stock Exchange ahead of yesterday’s investors’ conference. The stock has declined 12.41 percent since the beginning of the year.
CHANGE OF FORTUNES: Concern over a pricey valuation and the risk of tighter US curbs on chip sales to China have poured cold water on TSMC’s bullish momentum Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) shares fell the most in three months yesterday upon trading resumption, joining a global technology rout as investors dramatically soured on the promises of artificial intelligence (AI). The shares declined 5.62 percent to close at NT$924 in Taipei, dragging down the benchmark TAIEX, which fell 3.29 percent to 22,119.21 points amid a technical correction, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. Other chip stocks also fell, with ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控) plunging 9.86 percent, MediaTek Inc (聯發科) dropping 2.35 percent, Realtek Semiconductor Corp (瑞昱) falling 1.33 percent and United Microelectronics Corp (聯電) retreating 1.17 percent, while Apple
Taipei is today suspending work, classes and its US$2.4 trillion stock market as Typhoon Gaemi approaches Taiwan with strong winds and heavy rain. The nation is not conducting securities, currency or fixed income trading, statements from its stock and currency exchanges said. Authorities had yesterday issued a warning that the storm could affect people on land and canceled some ship crossings and domestic flights. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) expects its local chipmaking fabs to maintain normal production, the company said in an e-mailed statement. The main chipmaker for Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp said it has activated routine typhoon alert
GROWTH: TSMC increased its projected revenue growth for this year to more than 25 percent, citing stronger-than-expected demand for AI devices and smartphones The Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, 台灣經濟研究院) yesterday raised its forecast for Taiwan’s GDP growth this year from 3.29 percent to 3.85 percent, as exports and private investment recovered faster than it predicted three months ago. The Taipei-based think tank also expects that Taiwan would see a 8.19 percent increase in exports this year, better than the 7.55 percent it projected in April, as US technology giants spent more money on artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure and development. “There will be more AI servers going forward, but it remains to be seen if the momentum would extend to personal computers, smartphones and
Odd lot trades of contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) shares surged on Friday, although the stock faced headwinds, tumbling more than 5 percent in the session, the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) said. The volume of odd lot trades of TSMC shares totaled about 9.84 million shares on Friday, up sharply by about 400 percent from Tuesday, in a session before the local stock market closed due to Typhoon Gaemi on Wednesday and Thursday, the TWSE added. Stocks in Taiwan are usually bought or sold in lots of 1,000 shares. The nation lifted a ban on odd lots during regular