A Look at Four Singapore ADRs listed in Nasdaq

Posted by David Hunkar on 26 July 2009, 7:46 pm

Electronics manufacturing is one of the large industries in the small city state of Singapore. The government’s policies so far have been successful in attracting foreign capital and companies to invest in this sector.

There are four Singapore ADRs that are traded in the NASDAQ market.The following is a brief overview of these stocks:

1.Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd.(CHRT)
Chartered is in the semiconductor foundry business with operations in 9 locations in 7 countries throughout North America, Europe and Asia. Last year the company had $.14 in revenues. Temasek Holdings Pte, an investment fund controlled by the Singapore government, holds a 64% in Chartered.CHRT pays no regular dividend.

2.Verigy Ltd.(VRGY)
Verigy is another semiconductor firm which designs, develops, manufactures, sells and supports test systems and solutions for the semiconductor industry.VRGY also pays no dividend.

3.Flextronics International Ltd.(FLEX)
Flextronics is a contract electronics manufacturer with operations in 30 countries. Flextronics used to a hot stock during the dot com era of the 90s. Last year the company lost money. This is a high beta stock.

4.GigaMedia Limited(GIGM)
GigaMedia is a gaming software company. It is also provides software and services to casinos in China, Hing Kong, Macau and Taiwan. As the gaming industry is suffering in the current recession, investors can avoid Gigamedia for now.

The Top 25 U.S. Bank Holding Companies With Highest Insurance Income

Posted by David Hunkar on 26 July 2009, 10:46 am

Insurance income is one of different types of income in the noninterest income portion of a bank’s revenues. For some banks services charges which include overdraft charges can be very high. For others insurance income may be the highest of all noninterest income.

On July 18th, I listed the Top 50 bank holding companies ranked by total insurance income for 2008. Today’ s post shows the Top 25 bank holding companies at which insurance income made up the most of total noninterest income in 2008.

Source: Michael White-Prudential Bank Insurance Fee Income Report, Michael White Associates and American Bankers Insurance Association

As the chart shows above, for some banks insurance income was huge. For eg. – Maine-based small bank Northeast Bancorp (NBN) had 55% of noninterest income come from insurance income. This is a cause for concern since as a bank NBN was dependent too much on insurance income – which is not its core business area.

Five U.S. Banks With High Levels of Service Charge Income

Posted by David Hunkar on 25 July 2009, 8:56 pm

As the Federal Reserve plans to implement new rules to regulateÂ banks’ service charges, an article titled TCF Risks Backdraft on Overdraft Fees today in the Journal mentioned five banks that have had high levels of service charges as a percentage of noninterest income. In this post, lets take a look some of the fees and chargesÂ that makeup part of the noninterest income.

1.TCF Financial (TCB)

Based in Wayzata,MN, TCF operates in Minnesota, Illinois, Michigan, Colorado, Wisconsin, Indiana and Arizona.The current yield is 1.40%.

In 2Q,2009 fees and services accounted for $77.5 M of the total noninterest income of $156.4M. So service charges exceed 50% of noninterest income. ItÂ represents an increase of 35.9%Â from 1Q2009 “primarily due to an increased number of checking accounts and related fee income”. Last year service charges were 54% of noninterest income. Though the number of new checking accounts may have increased, the total service charges are high.

2. Huntington Bancshares(HBAN)

In 2Q,2009 total noninterest income increased $26.8 million, or 11%, from 1Q,2009 to $265.9M. Out of this service charges on deposit accounts was $75.4M. This was a $5.5 million, or 8%, increase from previous quarter reflecting higher personal service charges, primarily NSF charges. Other income include brokerage and insurance income, trust services,electronic banking, etc. Last year service charges accounted for 44% of noninterest income.

3.Fifth Third Bancorp(FITB)

Of the Noninterest income of $2.6 B service charges on deposits amounted to $162M or 11%. Last year for the same period it was just 2%. Electronic payment processing fees also jumped from 4% last year to 9% in 2Q,2009. Retail service charges increased 20% from 1Q,2009.

4.Regions Financial(RF)

The Total Noninterest income was $1.1 B. Service charges, up $19 million or 7 percent, benefited from a higher level of customer transactions, new account growth, and seasonal factors.

5.Associated Banc-Corp (ASBC)

Out of the total noninterest income of $101.9M , service charges on deposit accounts was $29.6M or 29%. Last year service charges were 41% of noninterest income.

As bank profits come under more pressure in the current recession, many banks will raise the fees on various types of accounts or institute new types of fees for services to generate additional revenue. If the Obama administration’s proposal to set up a consumer financial protection agency becomes successful, then high service fees, overdraft fees, etc. imposed by banks on customers may be targeted.

Related Research Paper: FDIC Study of Bank Overdraft Programs

Key Point from the FDIC study: “The banks earned an estimated $1.97 billion in NSF-related fees in 2006, representing 74 percent of the $2.66 billion in service charges on deposit accounts reported by these banks in their Reports of Conditions and Income (Call Reports) .”

The Best Internet Banks in North America 2009

Posted by David Hunkar on 25 July 2009, 7:49 am

Wells Fargo Bank (WFC) and CIBC (CM) have been named the Best Internet Banks for U.S. and Canada respectively for 2009 by Global Finance magazine.

The winners were selected based on the following criteria:

“strength of strategy for attracting and servicing online customers, success in getting clients to use web offerings, growth of online customers, breadth of product offerings, evidence of tangible benefits gained from Internet initiatives, and web site design and functionality.”

For more details and a listing of winners in various categories go to:

BEST INTERNET BANKS IN NORTH AMERICA 2009