STAYING POSITIVE: First Financial, which posted a NT$19.37 billion profit last year, said that while the outbreak was slowing business, it expected it to subside by summer

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 29, 2020
By: Crystal Hsu  /  Staff reporter

State-run First Financial Holding Co (第一金控) on Thursday said that it seeks to grow core operations despite the COVID-19 outbreak, which it says would prove a short-term downside risk like the 2003 SARS epidemic.

The bank-focused conglomerate posted a record profit of NT$19.37 billion (US$638.64 million) last year, representing an 11.8 percent increase from a year earlier, or earnings of NT$1.55 per share.

It aims to increase the loan book of its main subsidiary First Commercial Bank (第一銀行) by 7 to 8 percent this year, almost double last year’s 4.2 percent, First Financial executive vice president Frank Fang (方螢基) told an online investors’ conference.

Although the outbreak is slowing business activity, its effects might lessen as summer approaches, Fang said, citing his experience with the SARS epidemic.    [FULL  STORY]