The Taiwan Stock Exchange revealed that 23 listed enterprises held shares in telecommunication service operator Asia-Pacific Broadband Telecom Co. with capital injection of NT$7.749 billion and losses amounting to NT$2.8 billion.

Mega Financial Holding Co., China Steel Corp. and other investors wrote off more than NT$2 billion of holdings in Asia-Pacific Broadband Telecom after its major shareholders went bankrupt.

The Taipei-based phone operator’s largest shareholders, China Rebar Co. and Chia Hsin Food & Synthetic Fiber Co., declared insolvency and sought restructuring last week.

Prosecutors have detained Rebar Group executives as part of investigations of the bankruptcies.

Mega Financial, the second-largest financial services company by market value in Taiwan, this week wrote off NT$749 million more of its stake in Asia-Pacific Broadband Telecom, Mega said in a statement yesterday.

Mega has written off NT$1.03 billion of its NT$2.1 billion investment.

China Steel, Taiwan’s largest steelmaker, and an affiliate have written off NT$1 billion of their NT$1.6 billion investment.

Shin Kong Financial Holding Co., owner of Taiwan’s second-largest life insurer, wrote off NT$416 million of its NT$600 million stake, according to Taiwan Stock Exchange filings.

China Rebar Co. had invested NT$2.57 billion in Asia-Pacific and Chia Hsin NT$2.52 billion, according to stock exchange filings.

Asia-Pacific has a capital of NT$65.6 billion.

Prosecutors detained yesterday Wang Ling-yi, son of China Rebar Group founder Wang You-theng, and Wang You-theng’s brother Frank Chang as part of a probe into the bankruptcies.

The China Rebar Group is the parent of China Rebar Co., Chia Hsin, and The Chinese Bank.

The government last week already took control of The Chinese Bank after news of the bankruptcies triggered a run on deposits, with more than NT$15 billion withdrawn in a day, although the withdrawals shrank to NT$5 billion on Tuesday.

Regulators at the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) said Jan. 9 it has evidence of wrongdoing, including excess loans extended by The Chinese Bank to related enterprises in the same conglomerate.

Separately, chairman Chen Ming-liang of ProMos Technologies held a press conference to announce the producer of SDRAM chips chalked up a record profit of NT$9.5 billion in the last quarter despite the write-off involving NT$970 worth of corporate bonds of China Rebar and Chia Hsin in the same quarter.

Chen managed to put financially troubled ProMos back on right track with the NT$10 billion loan arranged by The Chinese Bank, Taiwan Cooperative Bank and Ta Chong Commercial Bank in February last year when most other financial institutions refused to lend a helping hand.

Before receiving the critical loan, Chen explained, ProMos purchased corporate bonds of the two affiliated firms of The Chinese Bank in a move to cultivate and maintain relations with the bank.

But the initial loan helped ProMos win confidence from other financial institutions that eventually agreed to provide continuing financial support.

The loan from The Chinese Bank played a vital role for the recovery of ProMos and paved the way for the generation of high earnings of around NT$15 billion or NT$2.30 per share, even after the list company wrote off the loss resulting from the bonds of China Rebar and Chia Hsin, Chen said.

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