Taiwan's CTBC Financial Holding Co. Ltd. reported a year-over-year rise in net profit for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2017, on the back of higher fee income and lower provisions.
The group said March 7 that consolidated net profit after tax rose to NT$6.20 billion from NT$4.60 billion in the prior-year period. EPS for the quarter inched up to 32 cents from 24 cents.
Net interest income went up to NT$24.55 billion from NT$21.76 billion, while operating revenue jumped to NT$26.10 billion from NT$21.14 billion.
The company's fee income rose to NT$4.46 billion from NT$2.86 billion, while net credit loss provisions fell to NT$762 million from NT$1.03 billion.
For the 2017 full year, the group's net profit after tax jumped 33.3% year over year in the aggregate to NT$37.22 billion from NT$27.93 billion in 2016. Full-year EPS stood at NT$1.91 from NT$1.43.
The S&P Capital IQ consensus mean estimate for 2017 normalized EPS was NT$1.87. The S&P Capital IQ consensus GAAP EPS estimate for the year was NT$1.86.
For unit CTBC Bank Co. Ltd., fourth-quarter net profit after tax climbed year over year to NT$7.66 billion from NT$5.49 billion in the prior-year quarter.
The bank's net interest income for the quarter came to NT$12.70 billion, up from NT$11.97 billion, while fee income inched up to NT$7.71 billion from NT$7.56 billion.
For the full year, CTBC Bank's net profit after tax rose 30% year over year in the aggregate to NT$30.02 billion from NT$23.09 billion in the year-ago period.
The Taiwanese lender's net interest margin for the quarter stood at 1.49% at the end of 2017, up from 1.47% as of Sept. 30, 2017, and from 1.48% at the end of 2016. Its total nonperforming loan ratio came in at 0.41%, down from 0.43% in the previous quarter and 0.63% over the prior-year quarter.
As of Dec. 31, 2017, the bank's capital adequacy ratio clocked in at 14.47%, up from 13.48% at the end of September 2017 and from 14.00% as of Dec. 31, 2016.
Its Tier 1 and common equity Tier 1 ratios stood at 13.06% and 11.81%, respectively, at the end of 2017, up from 12.14% and 10.94%, respectively, as of Sept. 30, 2017, and from 12.06% and 10.65%, respectively, in the year-ago period.
As of March 6, US$1 was equivalent to NT$29.26.
