TSMC limits stock options
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) will limit the number of stock options it offers to employees as bonuses to 120 million this year, the company said in a statement yesterday.
TSMC's board of directors approved the plan yesterday, and said net sales for the first half of this year were NT$89,247 million, and net income NT$16,088 million. Earnings per share for the first six months were NT$0.79, it said.
The board also approved the nomination of Lora Ho (何麗梅) as vice president and chief financial officer to replace Harvey Chang (張孝威). Chang left TSMC to take over as head of Taiwan Cellular Corp (台灣大哥大). James Chen, currently deputy director in TSMC's accounting department, was appointed as controller to fill the position left vacant by Ho's promotion, effective Sept. 8.
Manufacturing systems better
Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd (特許), which has lagged competitors in making the latest chips, said it boosted the quality of its most advanced manufacturing systems by 25 percent in the four months ended May.
The improvement came in the production of so-called 0.13-micron chips, the company said in a statement, as the world's fourth-largest provider of made-to-order chips has been trying to improve its manufacturing systems to catch up with industry leader Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電).
In the second quarter, Chartered Semiconductor earned 6 percent of its sales from 0.13-micron chips, or US$9.78 million. TSMC earned 17 percent of its sales on the same basis, or about US$249 million. No. 2 United Microelectronics Corp (聯電) also earned 6 percent, or about US$38 million.
Government develops industries
Service-oriented industries are Taiwan's economic lifeline and the government is poised to develop a variety of businesses in the sector as a means of giving the country a bigger role in international activities and ensuring the country's sustainable development, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) said yesterday.
Chen made the remarks while addressing the 2003 New Era Distribution and Creation Business Conference sponsored by the Taiwan Franchise and Chain Stores Association.
Taiwan's franchise and chain-store sector has successfully set itself up as a role model over the past 20 years for the domestic business community, Chen said.
Stressing that promoting service-oriented industries forms an essential part of the government's economic policy, Chen said the government is determined to use knowledge from the academic and industry sectors to do this.
NT dollar likely to strengthen
The New Taiwan dollar is likely to strengthen further to 34 to the US dollar in the coming months as the benchmark index of the local stock market stands a good chance of closing in on and even breaching 6,000 points, analysts said.
Foreign institutions and retailers posted a cumulative US$52.27 billion in net inward remittances as of the end of July, up from US$42.97 billion at the end of last year, according to government statistics.
"I believe we may have to wait a while longer for the NT dollar to actually test the 34.00 to the US dollar level. This must be the case as the stock market is also consolidating after previous solid gains in recent months," a forex dealer with a leading local bank said.
NT dollar trades lower
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday traded lower against its US counterpart, declining NT$0.003 to close at NT$34.115 on the Taipei foreign exchange market.
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