Taipei, August 14, 2008 (CENS)--Thanks to the injection of dividends in July, Fubon Financial Holding Co. scored NT$1.2 (US$0.038 at US$1:NT$31) in after-tax earnings per share in the first seven months of this year as the island`s most profitable FHC.

The second and third most profitable FHC in July were the government-controlled First Financial Holding Co. and Hua Nan Financial Holding Co., respectively.

First FHC and Hua Nan FHC posted NT$1.17 (US$0.037) and NT$1.04 (US$0.033) in EPS in the first seven months of this year, respectively. The fourth place went to Chinatrust Financial Holding Co. which scored NT$1.02 (US$0.032) in EPS in the first seven months of this year.

Although the U.S. subprime credit crisis and the losses in foreign exchange have impacted domestic life insurers, the three three-largest insurance-related FHCs showed mixed results in July. Cathay Financial Holding Co. from red to black in July also because of the injection of dividends. Shin Kong Financial Holding Co. registered the most loss at NT$2.17 (US$0.07) per share in the first seven months of this year.

Fubon FHC said its subsidiaries in the life insurance, banking and non-life insurance sectors posted considerable gains in July. The FHC registered NT$2.25 billion (US$72.58 million) and NT$9.23 billion (US$297.74 million) in after-tax earnings in July alone and in the first seven months of this year, respectively.

Cathay FHC said it posted NT$1.447 billion (US$46.67 million) in after-tax earnings in July. But because of the impact of losses in foreign exchange, the company encountered after-tax losses of NT$773 million (US$24.93 million), or a loss of NT$0.08 (US$0.002), in the first seven months of this year.

Mega Financial Holdings Co. registered after-tax earnings of NT$3.481 billion (US$112.29 million), or NT$0.31 (US$0.01), in first seven months of this year.

China Development Financial Holding Corp. posted NT$756 million (US$24.38 million) in after-tax earnings, or NT$0.07 (US$0.002) in EPS, in the first seven months of this year.

(by Ben Shen)