Investors like arts stock
Tittot (琉園), the nation's first arts stock, which was listed as an over-the-counter company on the Taiwan Stock Exchange last Friday, continued to be sought after by investors yesterday with its price surging to the ceiling of NT$18.20. Tittot, a manufacturer of crystal and glass objects founded by artist Heinrich Wang (王俠軍), is now maintaining 60 distribution points worldwide, with a second production line in Shanghai to open shortly. The maker of glass artifacts is aiming to post an annual turnover of NT$297 million (US$8.73 million) this year, up 6.5 percent over last year. The company is predicting a pre-tax annual profit of NT$30 million, a 1.2-times increase over the previous year, a corporate spokesperson said. As of the end of last month, business turnover this year was NT$212 million, or 71.3 percent of the targeted annual turnover, while pre-tax profit totaled NT$23 million, representing 76.7 percent of the year's targeted profit.
Lottery odds to improve
The Ministry of Finance yesterday announced that winning numbers for the first prize in the bimonthly Uniform-Invoice Lottery (統一發票) will be increased from three sets to four sets for the months of September and October, and to five sets for this month and next month. The chance of winning will increase from 0.3 percent to 0.4 percent for the earlier period and to 0.5 percent for the later one. Winning numbers will be drawn on Nov. 25 and on Jan. 25. "The government's coffers can afford to reward more winners of the invoice-lottery, which aims to encourage shoppers to ask for invoices while shopping," said Nelson Yu (游能淵), deputy director-general of the Taxation Department, at a press conference yesterday afternoon. Those who match all eight digits of any winning number will receive NT$200,000 while smaller amounts, down to NT$200, will be awarded to those who match only the last three digits.
Consumer confidence slips
Consumer confidence fell this month from last month as uncertainty about the nation's presidential election in March appeared to surface, the Taiwan Research Institute (台綜院) said in a report released yesterday. The private think tank put its Consumer Confidence Index at 83.84 for this month, down from last month's 85.4. That compares with 71.25 in June of last year. The institute's indexes gauging expectations for the next six months include consumer prices, disposable income, employment and financial investment. The institute said the indexes showed mixed results, but the momentum of economic recovery is still strong.
Acer to outsell HP in Europe
Acer Inc is poised to surpass US rival Hewlett-Packard Co as the biggest seller of notebook computers in Europe in the fourth quarter amid a surge in demand, an Acer executive said yesterday. Acer has also been more successful than the competition in Europe in getting components -- such as displays -- that have been in short supply in the three-month period, said Gianfranco Lanci, co-head of the firm's international operations business group. ``For this quarter, we have a very good chance to be No. 1,'' Lanci said, who didn't provide sales figures. HP is Acer's biggest rival. The US' Dell Inc is ranked No. 3 in Europe, Lanci said.
NT$ slips against greenback
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday fell against its US counterpart, declining NT$0.025 to close at NT$34.070 on the Taipei foreign exchange market.
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
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
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