Funds Raised by Taiwan's Firms Via Banks, Bourse Up Sharply in First Half of 2006

Taipei, July 6, 2006 (CENS)--Taiwan's enterprises actively raised funds through domestic banks and stock market in the first half of this year, with their funds collected from the local bourse posting a sharp annual rise of 80% and their syndicated loans from the banking system soaring 127.1%.

Among the securities firms, Capital Securities Corp. was the largest underwriter of stocks issued by enterprises, followed by Grand Cathay Securities Corp. And Chinatrust Commercial Bank took the first place in the syndicated loan market.

In the first six months, Taiwan recorded a total of 95 fund-raising cases launched by enterprises in the forms of initial public offerings (IPOs), capital increment, and issuance of convertible bonds, with funds raised amounting to NT$92.336 billion (US$2.8 billion at US$1 = NT$33), a whopping growth of 80.64% from the corresponding figure of last year.

In the same period, there were only 10 fund-raising projects launched by Taiwan's enterprises in overseas markets, valued at only US$1.713 billion, presenting a sharp annual fall of 40.06%. During the period, Morgan Stanley, Deutche Bank, and Citigroup Global Markets Inc. were top three underwriters of overseas bonds floated by enterprises here.

In recent years, syndicated loans are offered mainly to firms in high-tech industries such as semiconductor and thin film transistor-liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD). In the first half of this year, Taiwan boasted a total of 85 syndicated loans with value of NT$145.6 billion (US$4.41billion). In the period, the top five syndicated loan providers were, in sequence, Chinatrust Commercial Bank, International Commercial Bank of China, Taishin International Bank, Chiao Tung Bank, and Taipei Fubon Bank.

Funds Raised by Taiwan Enterprises Via Domestic and Overseas Markets, Jan.-June, 2005 and 2006
		Number of cases	Issuance value, Jan.-June 2006	Issuance value, Jan.-June 2005	Growth (%)
Domestic stock market	Issuance of stock	55	NT$44.746B	NT$29.833B	50
	IPO	25	NT$39.74B	NT$6.742B	489.4
	Convertible bonds	15	NT$8.45B	NT$14.54B	-41.9
	Sum	95	NT$92.336B	NT$51.115B	80.64
Overseas stock market	Depository receipts	9	US$1.502B	US$1.957B	-23.24
	Exchangeable corporate bonds (ECB)	1	US$211M	US$898M	-76.5
	Sum	10	US$1.713B	US$2.858B	-40.06
Domestic bond market	Corporate bonds	70	NT$53.196B	NT$44.373B	19.9
	Financial bonds	23	NT$43.51B	NT$65.492B	-33.6
	Sum	93	NT$96.706B	NT$109.865B	-11.97
Syndicated loans		85	US$11.121B	US$4.897B	127.1