■ Chunghwa to raise prices
Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd (中華映管) said it plans to raise prices because of shortages of manufacturing materials.
"Prices of raw materials have been rising," said Chien Yung-chung, a manager in the company's financial department.
"Customers can understand why we're raising our prices," he said.
Shortages of panel components such as color filters continue to be "serious," Chien said.
Chunghwa Picture plans to increase prices of screens that measure 17 inches and 15 inches diagonally by as much as US$10 in January, Chien said.
A 17-inch screen sells for about US$280, and a 15-inch screen for about US$230.
Panel prices have risen by about a quarter since the start of the year after some suppliers switched to making television panels. The gross margin for TV panels is as much as 40 percent, said James Johnstone, an analyst with Gartmore Investment Management in London, which owns shares in some Taiwan screen makers.
Chunghwa Picture makes an average gross margin of about 25 percent from its PC panels, Chien said.
■ Formosa profits from stake sale
Formosa Plastics Corp (台塑) had a gain of NT$1.61 billion (US$47 million) from selling part of its stake in an oil refinery unit that's holding an initial public offering.
The company sold 63.7 million shares for NT$43 each as part of Formosa Petrochemical Corp's (台塑石化) share sale this month. The sale leaves Formosa Plastics with 2.5 billion shares, equivalent to a 31.8 percent stake, the company said in a statement.
Formosa Petrochemical, the only private oil refiner in Taiwan, received NT$11.1 billion of orders from individual investors, 1.92 times more than the offer, the Taiwan Stock Exchange said on Dec. 5.
Before the sale, Formosa Plastics owned about a third of Formosa Petrochemical. Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corp (台塑化纖) had 28 percent, and Nan Ya Plastics Corp (南亞塑膠) 27 percent.
Formosa Petrochemical shares are scheduled to start trading next Friday. The initial public offer of 179.5 million existing shares, which raised NT$7.72 billion, are equivalent to a 2.3 percent stake.
■ SinoPac sees higher profits
SinoPac Holdings Co (建華金控), the nation's 10th-largest financial holding company by market value, said it expects net income to rise 42 percent next year.
The company, 28 percent owned by foreign investors, forecast next year's profit of NT$5.79 billion (US$170 million), or NT$1.55 per share, in a statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
It has forecast this year's net income at NT$4.08 billion, or NT$1.15 per share.
■ Chunghwa Telecom to be sold
The government plans to sell about 15 percent of Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) in the first half next year to put more of the company's shares into private hands, a Chinese-language newspaper reported, citing Vice Minister of Transportation and Communica-tions Chang Chia-chu (張家祝).
The government, which owns 65 percent of the company, plans to sell shares overseas and domestically, the paper said. It expects to raise as much as NT$60 billion (US$1.8 billion) from domestic sales, the paper said.
Chunghwa Telecom last week said its plan to buy back and cancel as much as 10 percent of its shares has probably been delayed until next year.
■ NT dollar weakens
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday remained weak against its US counterpart, falling NT$0.012 to close at NT$34.054 on the Taipei foreign exchange market.
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