Taiwan's SinoPac Financial posted its best-ever first half, with profit nearly doubling from a year earlier — good news for shareholders and a sign the firm's buying spree is paying off.

• First-half after-tax profit jumped 94% to a record, and revenue also hit an all-time high.
• Profit for the first seven months of the year already beat the whole of last year.
• Three acquisitions — Amret, King's Town Bank, and Entrust Securities — are feeding the gains alongside a hot capital market.
• The brokerage arm was the standout: profit up nearly 250% as Taiwan's stock market boomed and trading fees soared.
• Cheaper dollar funding and strong foreign-currency lending lifted the bank's interest income, while bad loans stayed low.

Outlook: A planned NT$20 billion share sale to bolster the securities arm is set to be priced at the end of September and wrapped up in the fourth quarter.