State-run Mega International Commercial Bank (兆豐銀行) last quarter won a competition among the 40 lenders in Taiwan — all of which benefited from interest rate hikes — based on measuring profit contributions per employee, a recent report by the central bank found.
Individual staffers at Mega Bank generated NT$6.97 million (US$225,420) between January and March, overtaking Shanghai Commercial and Savings Bank (上海商業儲蓄銀行), which finished in second place with NT$6.5 million per staffer, according to the report that ranked the lenders’ pre-tax profitability divided by their number of employees.
It is relatively difficult for large banks to rank high since they hire more workers than their small and medium peers — excluding Export-Import Bank of the Republic of China (中國輸出入銀) and Agricultural Bank of Taiwan (全國農業金庫) because of their special operations — the central bank said.
Photo: Lee Chin-hui, Taipei Times
With a focus on international trade financing, Mega Bank reaped a windfall from interest rate hikes at home and abroad, it pointed out.
HSBC Taiwan ranked third with NT$5.54 million per employee, a rare achievement for banks with foreign parents, the central bank said.
Taipei Fubon Commercial Bank (台北富邦銀行) and King’s Town Bank (京城銀行) secured the fourth and fifth rankings with NT$4.36 million and NT$4.3 million per worker respectively, it said.
Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行), CTBC Bank (中國信託銀行), Bank of Taiwan (臺灣銀行), First Commercial Bank (第一銀行) and E.Sun Commercial Bank (玉山銀行) made up the rest of the top 10 ranking with pre-tax profits of NT$3.16 million to NT$4.08 million per employee, it said. Web-only O-Bank (王道銀行) fell from the top 10 list this time.
Together, the 40 banks posted NT$127.09 billion in pre-tax income, soaring 40 percent from the same time last year, it said, as interest rate hikes widened their profit margin, while financial markets were less hostile.
The central bank hiked interest rates five times between March last year and March this year, driving up borrowing costs by 0.75 percentage points. The US Federal Reserve made steeper tightening moves, and the interest rate gaps allowed domestic lenders to make generous gains in currency swap operations.
Still, nine lenders recorded decreased earnings, even though the majority 31 registered profit growth, the report found.
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