■ Fubon launches new card
Fubon Commercial Bank (富邦銀行) and Taiwan Cellular Corp (台灣大哥大) yesterday launched a co-branded card -- the One club -- for the third-largest mobile service carrier's 6 million users. "Our goal is to issue 300,000 to 500,000 co-branded cards within the next year," Fubon president James Wu (吳均龐) told a press conference yesterday, adding that he expects the number of people holding the bank's cards to jump from 2.4 million to 3 million by the year's end. Benefits for cardholders include up to 5 percent rebates rate, free calls on their birthdays and no-interest installment payments for the purchase of mobile phones.
■ Minister sets out goals
Minister of Economic Affairs Ho Mei-yueh (何美玥) yesterday told legislators that her job was to "build an airport for domestic industries to take off." Ho said that she was "well versed in the needs of industry and the resources available to the government" and her ministry would "help industry pinpoint problems and resolve them." On the unfriendly remarks by China's Taiwan Affairs Office under the State Council, Ho suggested that Taiwan businesspeople weigh the political risks of investing in China. The Taiwan Affairs Office recently said that it does not welcome Taiwan businesspeople who wish to work in China and take their profits back to Taiwan to support Taiwan independence.
■ Ritek delays share sale
Ritek Corp (錸德), the world's second-largest maker of recordable compact discs, has delayed until next year plans to raise as much as US$120 million from the first public sale of shares in its mobile-phone screen unit, Ritdisplay Corp (錸寶). Ritdisplay last year scrapped a plan to raise US$20 million from selling shares in Taiwan and US$100 million from overseas investors, the Hsinchu-based unit's chief financial officer Ann Wu said. Ritdisplay started making organic light-emitting diode, or OLED, displays for mobile phones in 2002. It expects its first profit this year, Wu said. "We hope to have a better valuation for our share offering," she said. "Our sales need to offset our research and development expenses." Ritdisplay expects sales this year to rise to NT$3 billion from NT$1.7 billion last year.
■ Asset-backed bonds sell well
The nation's financial institutions sold NT$31.3 billion (US$933 million) of asset-backed bonds since a law allowing such sales passed two years ago, the central bank said in a statement. Seven transactions have been approved since the government passed the Financial Asset Securitization Law (金融資產證券化法) in June 2002, the central bank said. The law allows for the repackaging of assets such as residential mortgages, car loans and credit-card receivables. Taishin International Bank (台新銀行) in March sold NT$4.73 billion of bonds backed by residential mortgages. First Commercial Bank (第一銀行) earlier the same month sold NT$4.28 billion of bonds backed by home loans. Cosmos Bank Taiwan (萬泰銀行) in December sold US$230 million worth of bonds backed by cash-card loans in the first overseas sale of asset-backed securities from Taiwan.
■ NT dollar strengthens
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday maintained its strength against the US dollar, rising NT$0.024 to close at NT$33.537 on the Taipei foreign exchange market. Turnover was US$461 million.
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