Fubon Financial Holding Co on January 11 reported net profit of NT$90.85 billion (US$3.19 billion) for last year, up 55% from 2019 and hitting a new high, on the back of rising contributions from its subsidiaries amid a bullish stock market.

The nation’s second-largest financial conglomerate by asset said that Fubon Life Insurance Co, Fubon Insurance Co, Fubon Securities Co and Fubon Bank (China) Co Ltd all reported record profits for last year. Fubon Life reported a record profit of NT$8.22 billion for December 2020, which boosted its full-year profit to NT$61.04 billion, up 130% from a year earlier, Fubon Financial said in a statement.

The high growth could be attributed to rising profits from the sale of high-margin insurance products and improving investment gains in the local stock market, it said. Fubon Securities’ profit last month was NT$460 million, up 365% from a year earlier, due to growing fee incomes, while its full-year profit expanded 64% to NT$4.22 billion, Fubon Financial said. Fubon Insurance posted an annual rise of 30 percent in profit to NT$5.7 billion for last year, due to its steadily growing insurance business and investment gains, while Fubon Bank (China) registered an annual gain of 32% in profit to NT$1.88 billion on the back of rising net interest income, it said.

However, Taipei Fubon Commercial Bank reported that profit last year dropped 6.6% annually to NT$18.78 billion, due to interest rate cuts and higher provisions for bad loans. Overall, Fubon Financial reported earnings per share of NT$8.59 for the whole of last year, setting a record and topping its 14 local peers, company data showed.

Taipei Times