Hua Nan Financial cautiously upbeatUNCERTAINTY: The financial holding firm is targeting 5% earnings growth this year as the global economy recovers, but added that the pandemic remains a riskBy Crystal Hsu / Staff reporterState-run Hua Nan Financial Holding Co (華南金控) aims to grow its earnings this year at a pace in line with the nation’s GDP growth, although the COVID-19 pandemic and low interest rates would continue to weigh on its performance, senior officials told a virtual investors’ conference yesterday. The Hua Nan Financial Holding Co logo is pictured at a fintech exhibition in Taipei on Dec. 7, 2018. Consequently, net interest margin, a critical profitability gauge for financial institutions, shrank to 1.21 percent for foreign-currency operations and 0.83 percent for local currency loans, she said. Hua Nan Financial said that it is looking at a flat loanbook this year, while seeking to expand its interest and fee income by growing loans to small and medium-sized enterprises, and in overseas markets, as such businesses generate higher margins. Asked about its dividend payout plan, Hua Nan Financial said that its net income slumped 48.85 percent to NT$8.66 billion (US$305.73 million) last year, or earnings per share of NT$0.67, down from NT$1.31 a year earlier.

Source: Taipei Times March 10, 2021 15:56 UTC