Tax revenues fell in April
Total tax revenues last month fell 7.7 percent year-on-year to NT$81.9 billion, with stock transaction tax revenues recording the biggest drop, 58.5 percent, to NT$3.8 billion, the Ministry of Finance said in the monthly tax revenue report released yesterday.
The ministry attributed the drop in tax revenues from stock transactions last month to the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) which has caused a fall in stock market since the middle of last month.
For the first four months, the tax revenues from stock transactions fell by 51.7 percent from the previous year to NT$16.9 billion, the ministry statistics showed.
Minister of Finance Lin Chuan (林全) said earlier this week that the SARS outbreak will significantly reduce tax revenues this year, if the impact of SARS on economic activities lingers until the end of this year -- that includes an estimated NT$20 billion loss in revenues from stock transaction taxes and another NT$30 billion loss in business tax revenues.
TSMC gets network-chip orders
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufac-turing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world's biggest made-to-order chipmaker, is getting more orders from network-chip designers such as US-based Broadcom Corp and Marvell Technology Group Ltd, a local newspaper reported, without citing its information source.
The rise in orders is benefiting domestic chip packagers such as Siliconware Precision Industries Co (矽統), the report said, without indicating how much orders have increased.
TSMC's sales last month rose 14 percent to NT$15.3 billion (US$440.6 million) as customer demand continues to grow, senior vice president Harvey Chang (張孝威) said in a statement yesterday.
Revenue in the four months to April grew 11 percent to NT$54.59 billion from NT$49.16 billion a year earlier, the statement said.
7-Eleven sales drop over SARS
President Chain Store (統一超商), the nation's largest convenience store operator, said sales at some 200 7-Eleven convenience stores located in Taipei's Wanhua and Chungcheng districts dropped by about 20 percent in the past two weeks due to the spread of SARS.
The retailer has recently seen reduced customer traffic at its stores in these two districts because people were intended to be avoiding transmissions within the communities there, said Wang Wen-hsin (王文欣), public affairs manager at President Chain.
President Chain, which reported its sales last month rose 5.66 percent from a year earlier to NT$6.12 billion, forecasts sales this year will rise to NT$80 billion from NT$72 billion last year, Fred Chen (陳福唐), the company's chief financial officer, said last month.
Mosel Vitelic shares suspended
Shares in Mosel Vitelic Inc (茂矽), which defaulted on NT$4.7 billion (US$135 million) of bonds, will be suspending as of Monday after the company failed to file its first-quarter and last year's results by the April 30 deadline, the Taiwan Stock Exchange said.
Mosel's shares fell by the daily 7 percent limit for the 15th consecutive trading day yesterday, a slide that has wiped 65 percent off its market value. The shares began dropping after the company said it was seeking to negotiate new terms on debt that it can't repay.
The exchange said it will also suspend trading of Chou Chin Industrial Co (久津實業) and Southern Information Systems Inc (南方資訊) for failing to report their results.
NT dollar dips
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday traded lower against its US counterpart, dropping NT$0.007 to close at NT$34.719 on the Taipei foreign exchange market. Turnover was US$420 million.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
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