E.Sun Financial Holding reports a 27.8% rise in second-quarter net profit, driven by strong wealth management, AI-fuelled trading activity, and strategic expansion including the acquisition of Mercuries Life, aiming to elevate its position among Taiwan’s top financial groups.
E.Sun Financial Holding delivered a record second quarter, with net profit rising 27.8% from a year earlier to TWD21.4 billion, while earnings per share reached TWD1.32, according to its earnings call. Revenue also climbed sharply, and net fee income hit an all-time high as wealth management and securities activity strengthened. The result extended a strong run for the Taiwanese lender, which Taipei Times reported earlier this year had already posted record full-year earnings for 2025 and set out a goal of becoming one of Taiwan’s five largest financial holding groups by assets.
The bank remained the main engine of profit, contributing nearly 82% of the group total, while E.Sun Securities posted a standout performance as the artificial intelligence-driven market rally lifted trading activity. Net profit at the brokerage arm jumped 205% from a year earlier, helped by a 112% increase in sub-brokerage fee income. Management said loan demand continues to be led by domestic artificial intelligence-related industries, especially information and communications technology and electronic products, while overseas growth is being supported by infrastructure finance and asset-backed leasing.
The group’s expansion plans are also taking shape. Shareholders approved the Mercuries Life acquisition in January, and Taiwan’s financial regulator cleared the deal in July. E.Sun said the transaction is due to close on September 1, with the insurer to be renamed E.Sun Life on December 1. Once completed, the purchase will add insurance as a third profit driver alongside banking and securities and will lift E.Sun to fifth place among listed Taiwanese financial holding companies by total assets, building on the broader scale ambitions it outlined earlier this year.
Even with the stronger top-line performance, management trimmed full-year loan growth guidance to 13% to 14% from previous expectations and lowered deposit growth guidance to 12% to 14%. Net interest margin was broadly flat in the quarter, though the company said it expects improvement in the second half as loan yields rise and funding costs ease. Asset quality remained sound, with the non-performing loan ratio at 15 basis points and coverage at 770.8%. The bank also improved its cost-to-income ratio to 46.4%, and E.Sun said it intends to keep to its progressive dividend policy, while still targeting a yield of about 4%.
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