State-run Taiwan Cooperative Financial Holding Co (TCFH, 合庫金控) on Wednesday said the operating environment might start to improve in the second half of the year as the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic this quarter is over.
TCFH chairman Lei Chung-dar (雷仲達) made the remarks after the company’s annual general meeting, when government-appointed candidates secured an overwhelming majority on the company’s board, winning 13 of 15 seats.
“The worst impact from the virus outbreak is likely over for Taiwan and things might start to improve going forward,” said Lei, who is also a director on the central bank board, and poised to remain at the helm of the bank-focused conglomerate.
Main subsidiary Taiwan Cooperative Bank (合庫銀行), the nation’s largest lender by number of branches, aims to increase its loan book by 3 percent this year, aided by companies shifting production back to Taiwan from China as well as a recovery in property deals.
The lender, one of Taiwan’s top mortgage operators, posted an 8.5 percent pickup in land financing and another 2.7 percent gain in mortgage lending in the first quarter, compared with a year earlier.
Lei said that people who previously postponed property purchases might start to resume buying after the virus crisis in Taiwan began to wind down late last month.
Government data showed that the housing market from February to last month held resilient with a low single-digit percentage decline compared with the same period last year.
Meanwhile, demand for factory and office space is expected to gain traction from returning companies seeking to diversify manufacturing sites and cope with US-China trade tensions, brokers have said.
Overall, the record low interest rate would lend support to property purchases, Lei said.
There is no need to worry about a property bubble, he said, adding that real demand underpins housing deals these days and the central bank has policy tools such as credit controls to curb speculation.
The boom in domestic tourism is also favorable for consumer banking, Lei told shareholders, as all lenders have offered cash rebates or credit bonuses to customers who use stimulus vouchers to pay for transportation, hotels, restaurant meals, shopping or other recreational expenses.
Shareholders at the meeting approved a proposal to distribute a cash dividend of NT$1.15 per common share.
GREAT SUCCESS: Republican Senator Todd Young expressed surprise at Trump’s comments and said he expects the administration to keep the program running US lawmakers who helped secure billions of dollars in subsidies for domestic semiconductor manufacturing rejected US President Donald Trump’s call to revoke the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act, signaling that any repeal effort in the US Congress would fall short. US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who negotiated the law, on Wednesday said that Trump’s demand would fail, while a top Republican proponent, US Senator Todd Young, expressed surprise at the president’s comments and said he expects the administration to keep the program running. The CHIPS Act is “essential for America leading the world in tech, leading the world in AI [artificial
DOMESTIC SUPPLY: The probe comes as Donald Trump has called for the repeal of the US$52.7 billion CHIPS and Science Act, which the US Congress passed in 2022 The Office of the US Trade Representative is to hold a hearing tomorrow into older Chinese-made “legacy” semiconductors that could heap more US tariffs on chips from China that power everyday goods from cars to washing machines to telecoms equipment. The probe, which began during former US president Joe Biden’s tenure in December last year, aims to protect US and other semiconductor producers from China’s massive state-driven buildup of domestic chip supply. A 50 percent US tariff on Chinese semiconductors began on Jan. 1. Legacy chips use older manufacturing processes introduced more than a decade ago and are often far simpler than
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday said that its research institute has launched its first advanced artificial intelligence (AI) large language model (LLM) using traditional Chinese, with technology assistance from Nvidia Corp. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), said the LLM, FoxBrain, is expected to improve its data analysis capabilities for smart manufacturing, and electric vehicle and smart city development. An LLM is a type of AI trained on vast amounts of text data and uses deep learning techniques, particularly neural networks, to process and generate language. They are essential for building and improving AI-powered servers. Nvidia provided assistance
Gasoline and diesel prices this week are to decrease NT$0.5 and NT$1 per liter respectively as international crude prices continued to fall last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. Effective today, gasoline prices at CPC and Formosa stations are to decrease to NT$29.2, NT$30.7 and NT$32.7 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, while premium diesel is to cost NT$27.9 per liter at CPC stations and NT$27.7 at Formosa pumps, the companies said in separate statements. Global crude oil prices dropped last week after the eight OPEC+ members said they would
RSS