Cathay Financial Chairman Tsai Hong-tu: AI Tech Development and Application Rapid, Taiwan Stock Market Sees Unprecedented Boom

Cathay Financial Holding Chairman Tsai Hong-tu said today (June 12) that this year is very complex. The US-Iran war has not ended, and several countries have announced interest rate hikes, requiring continued observation of the impact on the macroeconomy. The current situation is causing volatility in capital markets. Fortunately, the rapid development and application of AI technology have made the Taiwan stock market perform very brightly globally, with a market boom unseen for many years, which has also driven very good profits for the financial holding company in the first five months of the year.

Cathay Financial held its 115th annual shareholders' meeting this morning. In his speech, Chairman Tsai noted that despite various challenges last year, including political and economic changes, the company achieved very good results thanks to the efforts of all employees. This year is again very complex, with unimaginable events happening around the world, ongoing geopolitical turmoil, and the Russia-Ukraine war continuing. The US attack on Iran at the end of February has also not ended quickly.

Chairman Tsai stated that the wars have driven up oil and energy prices, as well as the prices of daily necessities, causing fluctuations in the prices of raw materials needed by industries. Recently, inflation figures released by the US and various Asian countries have been higher than expected, leading to upward pressure on interest rates. Several countries have successively announced rate hikes, and the impact on the macroeconomy needs to be monitored.

Chairman Tsai pointed out that this has caused considerable volatility in capital markets. However, since the beginning of this year, the rapid development and continuous emergence of concrete applications of AI technology have driven the Taiwan stock market to become a very bright performer globally. In fact, this is mostly driven by technology stocks, while traditional industries have not grown much. Nevertheless, the boom in the Taiwan stock market is something not seen for many years, and as an investment institution, the financial holding company places great importance on the development of the stock market.

Chairman Tsai said that Cathay Financial's profits for the first five months of this year are also very good. He thanked the shareholders and employees for their support. The adjusted profit of the financial holding company has already exceeded the full-year figure for last year, and its subsidiaries have also delivered excellent results.

Cathay Financial Holding's net profit after tax for May was NT$14 billion, and the cumulative net profit after tax reached NT$59.93 billion. Including gains and losses from the disposal of FVOCI (Financial assets measured at fair value through other comprehensive income) stocks, the adjusted profit for the single month exceeded NT$45 billion, and the cumulative adjusted profit exceeded NT$125 billion, already surpassing the full-year profit of NT$107.6 billion for 2025.