Shares of Cradle Technology Corp (衛道科技) were limit-down at NT$3.34 yesterday after the Taiwan Stock Exchange asked the Taipei-based computer network software developer to detail its cash flows to prove whether it can meet debts and other payments.
The company's shares have been on the decline since Procomp Informatics Ltd (博達科技) defaulted on a NT$2.98 billion bond payment on June 17. The two companies are not related.
Procomp chairwoman Yeh Su-fei (葉素菲) was arrested last week on embezzlement and fraud charges after failing to explain the whereabouts of NT$6.3 billion in cash which was on the books during the first quarter.
Apart from Cradle Technology, around 80 listed companies were reportedly under investigation by regulatory authorities for their financial states, Chinese-language newspapers reported yesterday.
The Securities and Futures Commission has asked Taiwan Stock Exchange and Gretai Stock Exchange to closely monitor 25 out of 80 listed companies, whose corporate bonds and exchangable bonds are expect to reach maturity in the near term, the newspapers said, without citing sources.
The news came after Premier Yu Shyi-kun told a Cabinet meeting yesterday that accounting firms and underwriters may have to take responsibility for Procomp's bond payment default if they are found negligent in their jobs.
Seeking to prevent a recurrence of such a scandal, Yu said the Ministry of Finance and other regulatory authorities should continually monitor financial state of all listed companies. He also asked the ministry to help revise laws to reinforce corporate governance principles and accountants' legal responsibilities.
To avoid defaulting on a NT$1 billion (US$30 million) bond payment due next month, Cradle Technology said it plans to raise NT$600 million by selling shares to private investors, spokesman Philip Ko (柯清雲) said. The company currently has about NT$100 million in cash equivalents, he said.
Overseas investors, who hold about NT$600 million in bonds convertible into Cradle Technology shares, were asked not to exercise their rights to ask it to buy back the bonds next month, Ko said.
Cradle Technology's finances collapsed after four banks delayed a NT$1.5 billion loan it expected to obtain this month, Ko said.
``If investors are willing to wait for another year, we will not have financial difficulties,'' he said.
``Cradle Technology is a victim of Procomp Informatics' default,'' he said.
BUSINESS UPDATE: The iPhone assembler said operations outlook is expected to show quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year growth for the second quarter Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday reported strong growth in sales last month, potentially raising expectations for iPhone sales while artificial intelligence (AI)-related business booms. The company, which assembles the majority of Apple Inc’s smartphones, reported a 19.03 percent rise in monthly sales to NT$510.9 billion (US$15.78 billion), from NT$429.22 billion in the same period last year. On a monthly basis, sales rose 14.16 percent, it said. The company in a statement said that last month’s revenue was a record-breaking April performance. Hon Hai, known also as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), assembles most iPhones, but the company is diversifying its business to
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The chipmaker last month raised its capital spending by 28 percent for this year to NT$32 billion from a previous estimate of NT$25 billion Contract chipmaker Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電子) yesterday launched a new 12-inch fab, tapping into advanced chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology to support rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) devices. Powerchip is to offer interposers, one of three parts in CoWoS packaging technology, with shipments scheduled for the second half of this year, Powerchip chairman Frank Huang (黃崇仁) told reporters on the sidelines of a fab inauguration ceremony in the Tongluo Science Park (銅鑼科學園區) in Miaoli County yesterday. “We are working with customers to supply CoWoS-related business, utilizing part of this new fab’s capacity,” Huang said, adding that Powerchip intended to bridge
Qualcomm Inc, the world’s biggest seller of smartphone processors, gave an upbeat forecast for sales and profit in the current period, suggesting demand for handsets is increasing after a two-year slump. Revenue in the three months ended in June will be US$8.8 billion to US$9.6 billion, the company said in a statement Wednesday. Excluding certain items, earnings will be US$2.15 to US$2.35 a share. Analysts had projected sales of US$9.08 billion and earnings of US$2.16 a share. The outlook signals that the smartphone market has begun to bounce back, tracking with Qualcomm’s forecast that demand would gradually recover this year. The San
Clambering hand-over-hand, sweat dripping into his eyes, a durian laborer expertly slices a cumbersome fruit from a tree before tossing it down to land with a soft thump in his colleague’s waiting arms about 15m below. Among Thailand’s most famous and lucrative exports, the pungent “king of fruits” is as distinctive in its smell as its spiky green-brown carapace, and has been farmed in the kingdom for hundreds of years. However, a vicious heat wave engulfing Southeast Asia has resulted in smaller yields and spiraling costs, with growers and sellers increasingly panicked as global warming damages the industry. “This year is a crisis,”