Taiwan's Financial Three Industries Post Record NT$589 Billion Profit in First Four Months

(Central News Agency, Taipei, June 7) Taiwan's stock market has repeatedly hit new highs this year, and the New Taiwan dollar exchange rate depreciated by a cumulative 0.66% by the end of April. The banking, insurance, and securities/futures industries rode the tailwind of the capital market, significantly boosting their investment income. This drove the combined profit of the financial three industries in the first four months of this year to NT$589.066 billion, a record high for the same period, an annual increase of 109%.

The pre-tax net profit of the financial three industries, released by the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC), covers the banking, insurance, and securities/futures/investment trust industries. The banking industry includes domestic banks, foreign banks in Taiwan, Chinese banks in Taiwan, credit cooperatives, bills finance companies, and postal savings. The insurance industry includes life insurance and non-life insurance.

FSC statistics show that the banking industry's pre-tax profit for the first four months of this year was NT$260.8 billion, an increase of NT$64.54 billion year-on-year, or 32.9%. FSC Banking Bureau Deputy Director General Chang Chia-kuei stated that the overall banking industry's profit of NT$260.8 billion in the first four months was a record high for the period. Among them, domestic banks' profit of NT$233.89 billion also set a new record for the same period. This was mainly due to loan growth, lower funding costs for banks due to overseas interest rate cuts, and rising investment income driven by market conditions, leading to growth across the banking sector's three major profit pillars.

The insurance industry transitioned to the new International Financial Reporting Standard 17 (IFRS 17) for insurance contracts this year. The insurance industry's profit for the first four months was NT$215.3 billion, a record high for the same period in six years, an annual increase of 292%.

FSC Insurance Bureau Deputy Director General Chen Ching-yuan pointed out that the life insurance industry's pre-tax profit for the first four months was NT$194.5 billion, with NT$70.3 billion from insurance service results, NT$145.5 billion from financial results, and a negative NT$22.3 billion from other operating results. The non-life insurance industry's pre-tax profit for the first four months was NT$20.8 billion, mainly consisting of NT$14.6 billion from insurance service results, NT$8.6 billion from financial results, and a negative NT$2.9 billion from other operating results.

Furthermore, the continuous record highs of the Taiwan stock market led to a significant increase in profits for the securities and futures industries. FSC Securities and Futures Bureau Chief Secretary Wang Hsiu-ling noted that the combined pre-tax net profit of the securities, futures, and investment trust industries in the first four months of this year reached NT$112.966 billion, a record high for the same period, an increase of NT$82.441 billion year-on-year, or 270.08%.

Wang stated that the stock market's continuous record highs and active trading also drove up fund sizes. Among them, the securities industry's profit of NT$93.995 billion in the first four months was the most impressive, with an annual growth of 396.7%. Compared to the same period last year, the three major businesses of securities firms—brokerage, proprietary trading, and underwriting—all saw significant growth. Proprietary trading, in particular, saw a year-on-year increase of 2064.46%, with profits reaching NT$52.618 billion in the first four months. Overall, the rise in stock price indices and the expansion of market trading volume benefited the securities, futures, and investment trust industries. (Editor: Yang Lan-hsuan) 1150607