Taiwan's financial sector makes record January-May pre-tax profits

Taipei, June 30 (CNA) Taiwan's financial sector earned a record-high NT$483.91 billion (US$14.87 billion) in pre-tax profits during the first five months of this year, according to the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC).

The total pre-tax net profits posted by the sector, which includes Taiwanese and foreign banks, domestic securities and futures traders, as well as insurance firms, between January and May surpassed the previous record of NT$460.21 billion in the same period in 2021. It was also a 93.52 percent increase from the January-May period in 2023, FSC figures showed.

The domestic banking segment continued earning record profits largely due to handling fee increases and rising income from investments and interest. It earned NT$248.13 billion in the first five months of 2024, a year-on-year rise of 12.4 percent, and formed more than half of the financial sector's total profits.

Domestic banks, as well as local branches of foreign and mainland Chinese banks, credit cooperatives, and bills finance companies all saw growing profits, FSC data showed.

On the contrary, Chunghwa Post posted NT$380 million in net profits in the first five months, a 58.1 percent decline year-on-year, due to falling profits from net interest income.

Meanwhile, the insurance sector, mainly comprised of life insurance and property and casualty insurance companies, made profits of NT$176.50 billion in the first five months, a year-on-year increase of NT$183.8 billion.

The securities and futures sector made NT$59.28 billion in pre-tax profits, up 62.27 percent year-on-year, largely due to the stock market boom that has led to the Taiwan Stock Exchange Capitalization Weighted Stock Index (TAIEX) breaching the 21,000-point mark in May, according to the FSC.