Bankers back IC cards
The Bankers Association of the ROC (銀行公會) yesterday called for a meeting to resolve difficulties raised by member banks in upgrading magnetic automatic-teller-machine (ATM) cards into integrated-circuit (IC) cards. The association, in a written statement after yesterday's meeting, assured banks that it would provide the necessary technological assistance to facilitate the plan before June. The association said that it has helped cut the cost of IC cards from NT$35 to NT$30, while some of the nation's chipmakers also promised a daily output of 500,000 cards to meet demand. According to the association, a solution will also be ready by February to upgrade ATMs, which are incapable of reading Combo cards.
Shares buyback delayed
Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) said a planned buyback of as much as 10 percent of its shares, valued at NT$46.6 billion (US$1.37 billion), has probably been delayed until next year. The company "intends to continue to explore means of effecting a share repurchase, and in its absence, will seek to maintain the traditional cash dividend payout ratio of approximately 90 percent of its annual net income," the company said in a statement. The buyback is a "sensitive" issue in the run up to the March presidential election, Chunghwa Telecom spokeswoman Shen Fu-fu (沈馥馥) said.
EVA raises profit forecast
EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) raised its pretax profit forecast for this year almost nine times to NT$1.07 billion (US$31.4 million) on better-than-expected business performance. The carrier increased its forecast from NT$121 million, it said in a statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange. EVA in June cut its pretax profit forecast for the year by 94 percent to NT$121 million. EVA said Tuesday it expects its revenue to rise 15 percent to about NT$73 billion (US$2.15 billion) next year because of increased passenger and cargo traffic. EVA projected passenger revenue to grow between 20 percent and 25 percent. It expected cargo revenue to be up about 5 percent and 6 percent next year, a company official said.
Notebook makers team up
International Business Machines Corp and BenQ Corp (明基電通) plan to team up to sell each other's notebook computers, a Chinese-language newspaper said, citing Hank Horng (洪漢青), a vice president of personal computer business at IBM in Taiwan. IBM, which had 14.4 percent of Taiwan's notebook computer market in the third quarter, will announce the tie-up with BenQ on Tuesday, the paper said. BenQ, which also supplies flat-panel monitors for IBM's desktop computers, has 6.1 percent of Taiwan's notebook market, the paper said. The tie-up may help the two companies compete with Asustek Computer Inc (華碩電腦), which has 28.8 percent of the market, and Hewlett-Packard Co, which has 19.1 percent, the paper said.
NT dollar trades higher
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday traded higher against its US counterpart, rising NT$0.02 to close at NT$34.028 on the Taipei foreign exchange market. Turnover was US$544 million. The New Taiwan dollar may rise 10 percent next year because of growth in Asian economies, based on forecasts by William Belchere, head of Asian Economic and Policy Research at J. P. Morgan Chase & Co, a Chinese-language newspaper reported yesterday. The NT dollar may appreciate to NT$30 against the greenback, Belchere said in the report.
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