Taiwan's financial sector toasts NT$106 billion pre-tax Jan. profits

Taipei, March 10 (CNA) Taiwan's financial sector raked in NT$106 billion (US$3.37 billion) in pre-tax profits for January, according to the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC)

Pre-tax profits posted by sector -- comprising banks, insurance firms, and securities and futures traders -- marked a 190 percent increase on January 2023's NT$36.55 billion, FSC data showed.

Handling fee increases as well as investments and other income saw banks record pre-tax profits of NT$60 billion, a year-over-year rise of 18.2 percent and a single-month record, the FSC said.

Accounting for 91 percent of this total were domestic banks, which made NT$54.61 billion in pre-tax profits.

The insurance sector -- which spent last January in the red -- made pre-tax profits of NT$34.7 billion after a fall in the Taiwan dollar against the U.S. dollar, the FSC said.

Pre-tax profits in the securities and futures sector increased by 73.72 percent compared with last year to reach NT$11.34 billion, FSC figures showed.

Securities companies accounted for 78 percent of this total, earning NT$8.87 billion on the back of growth in brokerage fees.

Increased trading volume, brokerage fees and the effects of interest rate hikes saw futures traders make NT$678 million in pre-tax profits, a 69.5 percent increase on January 2023, the FSC said.

Investment banks, meanwhile, earned pre-tax profits of NT$1.79 billion, a year-over-year increase of 37.3 percent.

The FSC attributed this rise to investment banks increasing the volume of assets under their management and a subsequent rise in income from fees.