Airline raises profit forecast
EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) raised its 2002 annual profit forecast by 56 percent as Taiwan's second-largest airline cut costs and sold more seats and cargo space.
EVA expects net income this year to reach NT$2.5 billion (US$72 million), compared with its September forecast of NT$1.6 billion, the company said in a statement.
Last year, the company posted a NT$3.17 billion net loss.
Sales for the year will probably rise to NT$64.2 billion, compared with the previous estimate of NT$62.8 billion, EVA said.
Tsingtao expects good sales
Tsingtao Brewery Co (青島啤酒), China's biggest beer producer, expects to gain about 5 percent of the Taiwan market this year, after starting to sell beer here in April. It forecasts a one-third increase in sales next year.
Tsingtao may sell 40,000 tonnes of beer in Taiwan next year, up from the 30,000 tons it expects to sell this year.
Sanyo Whisbih Group (三洋維士比) helps Tsingtao sell beer in Taiwan, where total sales are about 550,000 tonnes a year.
Tsingtao will send a team to Taiwan next week to investigate the market and attend a groundbreaking ceremony for the nation's first Tsingtao-making brewery, which is being built by Sanyo Whisbih.
Sanyo Whisbih will operate the plant under license from Tsingtao. Production will begin in more than a year's time.
Factory closures slow down
Taiwan factory closures rose at a slower pace in October, government data showed, suggesting an export rebound may help add jobs on the island where the unemployment rate stood at 5.32 percent in September.
Last month plant shutdowns on the island rose 7.9 percent from a year earlier to 274, after rising 27 percent in September, according to government data.
New factory registrations rose 35 percent to 363 last month.
Last week, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics said it expects the nation's exports to rise 5.6 percent this year.
In the first 10 months of 2002, plant closures fell 34 percent to 2,734 and the number of new factories opened in the period rose 13 percent to 3,514 from a year earlier.
Bank plans transformation
First Commercial Bank (第一銀行), Taiwan's largest publicly traded lender by assets, is planning to transform itself into a financial holding company by the end of this year, and will combine Asia Securities Inc (亞洲證券) in the company, local Chinese-language media reported yesterday.
The bank is reportedly able to convert into a financial holding company after received approval from the US Federal Reserve on Wednesday, the news reports said.
Approval from the US Fed is needed since First Bank has subsidiaries in the US.
The proposed financial holding company, which is to be called First Financial Holdings Co (第一金控), is scheduled to be formed by the end of this year, the news reports said, citing the bank's Executive Vice President Chang Yi-hsiung (張義雄).
First Financial will include Ming Tai P&C Insurance (明台產險) and Taisec Securities (太祥證券) early next year and is currently in discussions about acquiring Asia Securities, Chang said.
NT dollar rises
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday rose against its US counterpart on the back of a stronger yen.
The unit advanced NT$0.067 to close at NT$34.798 on the Taipei foreign exchange market.
Turnover was US$346 million, compared with the previous day's US$471 million.
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