Chunghwa sale `impossible'
Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) said plans to sell shares abroad in the first quarter may be scrapped because the paperwork isn't ready, forcing the government to depend on next week's NT$63.8 billion (US$1.84 billion) domestic sale to pay debt and plug a budget deficit.
"It's kind of impossible.... We would have had to prepare necessary financial documents earlier," Chunghwa spokeswoman Shen Fufu said of the planned sale of American depositary receipts.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc's contract to advise on sale, due to expire last month, has been renewed, said Mei Zhang, a spokeswoman with Goldman.
The government has delayed several overseas sales the past two years and suffered four flops in domestic sales, amid doubts about Chunghwa's progress in cutting costs and trimming its workforce. The government, which still owns 95 percent of the company, didn't improve its chances by pricing the shares at a 2 percent premium to Friday's closing price, analysts said.
"If Chunghwa could commit to restructuring and management would sign on to cost cuts, we might be interested in buying the shares," said Devan Kaloo, who helps manage US$2.6 billion for Aberdeen Asset Management Asia Ltd, and doesn't own shares in Chunghwa Telecom.
Research group predicts growth
Seeing that the economy is gradually recovering from the global economic recession, analysts at the Taiwan Research Institute forecast that a 3.42 percent economic growth rate for 2003 is possible.
The institute yesterday released a report on the economic prospects, pointing out that although domestic consuming power and investment willingness have remained low over the past few months, the country will manage to attain a 3.12 percent economic growth this year.
According to the report, in the second quarter of next year, the nation will be able to see the effectiveness of the government's reformative monetary and financial policies.
The report predicts that domestic investment willingness will recover next year, with the investment amounts increasing by 6.48 percent from the level of 2002.
In addition, as a member of the WTO, international trade is expected to attain sustained growth in the coming years, according to the report.
Cathay eyes China opportunities
Hong Kong-based carrier Cathay Pacific Airways (國泰航空) said yesterday it is interested in buying a stake in China Eastern Airlines (中國東方航空) and other carriers based in China but no deals have been reached.
Cathay corporate communications manager Lisa Wong was responding to a media report which claimed the carrier was in talks with Shanghai-based China Eastern Airlines.
The Sing Tao Daily reported yesterday that Cathay was in the early stages of talks with China Eastern Airlines to take a stake in the Chinese carrier.
"We are looking at opportunities in the Chinese aviation market, but in what form and what scope, we are still in very initial stages and we have not made any confirmation yet."
Cathay Pacific chief executive David Turnbull was quoted as saying last week the company is interested in taking minority stakes in Chinese airlines.
The talk comes as Cathay attempts to win rights to resume flights to China.
NT dollar strengthens
The new Taiwan dollar gained against the US dollar on the Foreign Exchange yesterday, ending up NT$0.097 to close at NT$34.805.
A total of US$338 million changed hands.
Agencies
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last