Fitch Ratings yesterday affirmed the ratings of SinoPac Financial Holdings (
The ratings on SinoPac Financial are based on the company's strong capitalization, limited leverage, prudent risk culture and reasonable profitability derived from its major units Bank SinoPac (建華銀行) and SinoPac Securities Corp (建華證券), Fitch said in a statement.
The coming acquisition of International Bank of Taipei (IBT, 台北商銀) would allow SinoPac Financial to expand distribution channels and doubled banking assets, as well as sharpen its competitive edges against other major financial holdings, Fitch said. The deal would enhance SinoPac Financial's earnings stability due to an expected increase in share of profits sourced from commercial banking activities, as opposed to the volatile brokerage and investment banking businesses, it said.
But the upcoming integration could present a major challenge to the management of Bank SinoPac and IBT in light of the differences in corporate cultures and management systems, Fitch said.
The Financial Supervisory Commission said it had approved the takeover of IBT as a wholly-owned subsidiary through a full share swap, which would boost SinoPac's capital adequacy ratio to 143 percent after the merger, compared with 136 percent at the end of June.
The merger is expected to make SinoPac Financial the nation's eighth-largest financial-services provider, with over NT$1 trillion (US$30 billion) in assets. Its total number of outlets will expand to 161, the company said.
SinoPac Financial shares yesterday closed up 0.36 percent at NT$14.05 on the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) halted shipments to a customer this month after its semiconductors were sent to China’s Huawei Technologies Co (華為), potentially breaching US sanctions, a government official said. The US slapped sanctions on Huawei in 2019, and expanded them the following year, over fears its technology could be used for Beijing’s espionage operations. The restrictions prevent TSMC from selling semiconductors to Huawei. However, TSMC discovered on Oct. 11 that chips made for a “specific customer” had ended up with the Chinese company, a Taiwanese official with knowledge of the incident said on the condition of anonymity. TSMC “immediately activated
US SANCTIONS: The Taiwan tech giant has ended all shipments to China-based Sophgo Technologies after one of their chips was discovered in a Huawei phone Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) suspended shipments to China-based chip designer Sophgo Technologies Ltd (算能科技) after a chip it made was found on a Huawei Technologies Co (華為) artificial intelligence (AI) processor, according to two people familiar with the matter. Sophgo had ordered chips from TSMC that matched the one found on Huawei’s Ascend 910B, the people said. Huawei is restricted from buying the technology to protect US national security. Reuters could not determine how the chip ended up on the Huawei product. Sophgo said in a statement on its Web site yesterday that it was in compliance with all laws
TECH TITANS: Nvidia briefly overtook Apple again on Friday after becoming the world’s largest company for a short period in June, as Microsoft fell to third place Nvidia Corp dethroned Apple Inc as the world’s most valuable company on Friday following a record-setting rally in the stock, powered by insatiable demand for its specialized artificial intelligence (AI) chips. Nvidia’s stock market value briefly touched US$3.53 trillion, slightly above Apple’s US$3.52 trillion, London Stock Exchange Group data showed. Nvidia ended the day up 0.8 percent, with a market value of US$3.47 trillion, while Apple’s shares rose 0.4 percent, valuing the iPhone maker at US$3.52 trillion. In June, Nvidia briefly became the world’s most valuable company before it was overtaken by Microsoft Corp and Apple. The tech trio’s market capitalizations have been
Shares of Starlux Airlines Co (星宇航空) surged more than 53 percent on its debut on the Taiwan stock exchange yesterday. Starlux shares closed up 53.75 percent at NT$30.75 from its initial public offering price of NT$20 after retreating in late trading from a 60 percent rise. China Airlines Ltd (CAL, 中華航空) rose 0.90 percent to close at NT$22.35, while EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) gained 0.40 percent to close at NT$37.70. In Taiwan, a newly listed stock is allowed to go beyond the 10 percent maximum increase or decline in its first five trading sessions. At the listing ceremony, Starlux chairman Chang Kuo-wei (張國煒) said