Taiwan's top 5,000 firms post record profit in 2025; TSMC most profitable

Taipei, June 27 (CNA) Taiwan's 5,000 largest companies posted a record high in aggregate net profit in 2025, up more than 11 percent from a year earlier, with contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) remaining the country's most profitable company amid the artificial intelligence boom, according to credit information firm CRIF. In a research report, CRIF said strong global demand for AI applications continued to benefit Taiwan's top 5,000 enterprises in 2025. Their combined net profit totaled NT$5.77 trillion (US$181 billion), up 11.01 percent from a year earlier, while aggregate revenue also hit a record high of NT$48.50 trillion, up 10.98 percent, CRIF said. Among the 5,000 firms, TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, ranked first in net profit, which reached NT$1.72 trillion. The company has been a major supplier of advanced AI chips to global technology giants such as Nvidia Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD). iPhone assembler and AI server maker Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. ranked second with net profit of NT$189.35 billion, followed by Fubon Financial Holding Co. (NT$120.98 billion), Cathay Financial Holding Co. (NT$107.63 billion), and smartphone IC designer MediaTek Inc. (NT$105.32 billion), the report said. TSMC also topped the ranking by revenue for the first time among the top 5,000 firms after generating NT$3.78 trillion in 2025 sales, surpassing Hon Hai, which posted NT$2.90 trillion in revenue, according to the report. Quanta Computer Inc., another major AI server supplier, ranked third with NT$1.69 trillion in revenue, ahead of Nvidia Singapore Development's Taiwan branch (NT$1.36 trillion) and AI server producer Wistron Corp. (NT$1.22 trillion). TSMC also ranked first in net worth in 2025, with shareholders' equity totaling NT$5.42 trillion. It was followed by Hon Hai (NT$1.77 trillion), Fubon Financial (NT$997.81 billion), Cathay Financial (NT$934.39 billion), and Cathay Life Insurance Co. (NT$749.03 billion). CRIF also assessed the top 5,000 companies using a range of operating indicators, including revenue, net profit margin, sales growth, net worth, total assets, and return on equity (ROE), to compile an overall operational performance ranking. In that ranking, Hon Precision Inc., a supplier of semiconductor testing equipment, took the top spot with a score of 96.17, ahead of TSMC, system-on-chip (SoC) solutions provider ASPEED Technology Inc., data center solutions supplier Wiwynn Corp. and Asia Vital Components Co., a provider of cooling solutions used in AI applications. CRIF said the top five companies in the operational performance ranking were all beneficiaries of trends such as digital transformation, cloud computing, next-generation semiconductor development and system integration during the AI era. Despite the increase in aggregate net profit in 2025, CRIF noted that 772 companies reported losses, up more than 40 percent from 543 in 2024. In addition, the average ROE fell to a three-year low of 7.74 percent, indicating that corporate performance remained uneven. (By Lu Yen-tzu and Frances Huang) Enditem/cs