Taishin most profitable newer bank in Jan.-Nov.

Taipei, Dec. 3, 2003 (CENS)--Thanks to the outstanding performance in consumer banking, Taishin International Bank, one of the private local banks established after 1992, posted the highest pretax earnings per share of NT$3.16 (US$0.09 at US$1:NT$34) among the newer banks in the January-November period of the year.

Fubon Commercial Bank, a subsidiary of Fubon Financial Holding Co., and E. Sun Bank, a subsidiary of E. Sun Financial Holding Co., ranked second and third by scoring NT$3.07 (US$0.09) and NT$2.82 (US$0.08) in EPS, respectively, in the same comparison period.

Already writing off bad assets last year, some newer banks, including Taishin, Fubon, E. Sun, and Far Eastern International Bank, have accomplished their annual financial projections at the end of November. As the bond market has slowed down since the beginning of the second half, most of the top earners concentrate on retail banking to secure higher profits.

Taishin posted NT$787 million (US$23.14 million) in pretax earnings in November, up 22.7% from the previous month. The bank will see 2003 a banner year as it has controlled overdue loan ratio at less than 1.96% in November without writing off non-performing loans by the end of this year.

Small in size, E. Sun Bank scored pretax profits of NT$490 million (US$14.41 million) in November. The bank attained NT$5.121 billion (US$150.61 million) in cumulative pretax earnings, or NT$2.82 (US$0.08) in EPS, in the first 11 months of this year.

Other new banks that enjoyed brilliant consumer banking business in the first 11 months include Cosmos Bank and Ta Chong Bank. Cosmos, which is Taiwan's No.1 issuer of cash cards, posted NT$744 million (US$21.88 million) in pretax earnings in November, hitting a new monthly record. The bank raked in total pretax earnings of NT$3.358 billion (US$98.76 million) in the first 11 months of this year, translating into NT$1.9 (US$0.05) in EPS.

With over NT$70 billion (US$2.05 billion) in outstanding cash-card loans, Cosmos is expected to break the NT$800 million (US$23.52 million) mark in pretax earnings in December.

Concentrating on both retail and corporate banking business, Ta Chong has enjoyed a business turnaround since the beginning of this year. The bank posted NT$2.499 billion (US$73.5 million) in pretax earnings for the January-November period, equivalent to an EPS of NT$1.9 (US$0.05).

Far Eastern netted pretax earnings of NT$120 million (US$3.52 million) in November and NT$3.721 billion (US$109.44 million) in the first 11 months of this year. The firm's EPS for the January-November period stood at NT$.2.62 (US$0.07), already surpassing its whole-year profit goal. The bank has increased its provisions against bad loans since the beginning of September, with such provisions reaching NT$270 million (US$7.94 million) in November alone. The bank recorded a bad loan coverage rate of 51.1% by the end of November.

After setting aside bad loan provisions of NT$340 million (US$10 million) in November, Union bank of Taiwan posted pretax earnings of NT$131 million (US$3.85 million) in November and NT$1.558 billion (US$45.82 million) in the first 11 months of this year, respectively. The company recorded an EPS of NT$1.06 (US$0.03) for the January-November period.

Earnings Scored by Newer Banks in the Jan.-Nov. Period
Bank	Pretax earnings in November (NT$100 million)	Pretax earnings in the Jan.-Nov. period (NT$100 million)	EPS (NT$)
Taishin	7.87	78.03	3.16
Fubon	4.31	67.03	3.07
E. Sun	4.9	51.21	2.82
Far Eastern	1.2	37.21	2.62
Ta Chong	2.02	24.99	1.9
Cosmos	3.3	33.58	1.9
SinoPac	2.07	30.57	1.62
Union	1.31	15.58	1.06
Fuhwa	0.12	10.04	0.83
EnTie	0.51	11.41	0.81
Chinese	0.51	7.06	0.47
Jihsun	0.73	3.18	0.26
Pan Asia	-0.17	-6.84	-0.46
Source: The newer banks