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Taiwanese Banks See Sharp Rise of 19% in Profits from Overseas Branches in First 5 Months

2014/08/08 | By Judy Li

Overseas branches of Taiwanese banks chalked up combined pretax profits of NT$12.4 billion (US$413.33 million) in the first five months of this year, up a sharp 19% from a year earlier and accounting for 9.1% of the banks' total earnings (compared with 8.8% for the same months of 2013), according to statistics released by the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC).

FSC Chairman M.C. Tseng says that if Taiwanese banks intend to become key players in Asia, their overseas operations should contribute at least 30% of their total profits. None of the island's banks has reached the level so far.

In the January-May period the Mega International Commercial Bank raked in profits of NT$1.97 billion (US$65.67 million) from its overseas branches, accounting for 15.1% of its total profits. In the same period, the Bank of Taiwan (BOT) took in overseas profits of NT$1.275 billion (US$42.5 million), making up 28.27% of its total.

Mega Bank's top ranking in overseas profits was followed in sequence by CTBC Bank, First Bank, and BOT. In ratio of profits from overseas operations, BOT was first with 28.27%; First, Mega Bank, and Bank SinoPac followed with ratios above 15%; and CTBC trailed with only 13%.

Last year all Taiwanese banks raked in pretax profits totaling NT$257.6 billion (US$8.59 billion), a record high. Of that total, NT$23.4 billion (US$780 million) or 9.07% came from overseas operations. (JL)