■ National Aerospace in trouble
National Aerospace Fasteners Corp (宏達科技) said it will seek court protection from creditors after stock market regulators imposed restrictions on trading in its shares. Insufficient cash flow may result in the company's checks bouncing and the delisting of its shares from the stock market, National Aerospace said in a statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange. The company said it has NT$1.8 billion (US$53.1 million) in debt and assets worth NT$3.6 billion. Shares in the firm, which makes rivets and nuts for aircraft parts, have lost 90 percent of their value since mid-August. The stock exchange last month said it would limit trading in the shares to cash-only transactions because of concerns over the company's income statements. National Aerospace said on Sept. 3 it would make a loss of NT$551 million (US$16 million) this year, reversing an April profit forecast of NT$123 million.
■ Foxconn, Juteng offer shares
Foxconn International Holdings (富士康控股) and Juteng Interna-tional Holdings, both Taiwanese technology equipment manufacturers, plan to raise a combined HK$1.5 billion (US$193 million) in Hong Kong share sales by the end of the year, the South China Morning Post said, citing unidentified sources. Foxconn, a subsidiary of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), Taiwan's largest listed company by sales, plans to raise as much as HK$1.2 billion in an initial public offering that may receive approval from Hong Kong regulators next month, the paper said. The telecommunications networking and mobile equipment maker made an estimated profit of more than HK$400 million last year, the Hong Kong-based paper said. Goldman Sachs Group Inc and UBS AG are arranging the sale, the paper said. Juteng International Holdings may raise HK$300 million in its Hong Kong share offer in December, according to the paper. The company, which produces casings for computers and other products, posted revenue of about HK$500 million last year.
■ Family feud at Taishin
A member of Taishin Financial Holdings Co's (台新金控) controlling family is disputing the results of an impromptu board meeting held to set the date for election of new members, several Chinese-language newspapers reported. Director Eric Wu (吳東昇) is claiming his brother, Taishin chairman Thomas Wu (吳東亮), acted independently in calling a board meeting that set the date for the election on Dec. 3, the anniversary of their father's death, the reports said. Thomas Wu may be investigated by the island's stock regulator for selling shares in Shinkong Synthetic Fibers Corp (新光人纖) during a struggle with Eric Wu for management control.
■ Wal-Mart meets in Shenzhen
Wal-Mart Stores Inc will for the first time move an annual meeting to decide purchases of electronics goods to China from the US, a media report said, citing unidentified suppliers of the US retailer. The company was to start the four-day meeting yesterday in China's southern coastal city of Shenzhen with suppliers including Taiwan's Tatung Co (大同) and Sampo Corp (聲寶), the report said. Most of Wal-Mart's purchases will focus on products such as DVD players and flat-panel televisions, which the company expects to sell under its own brand name, the paper said.
■ NT dollar up slightly
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday edged up NT$0.006 against the US dollar to close at NT$33.865 on the Taipei foreign exchange market. Turnover was US$430 million.
The Taiwan Automation Intelligence and Robot Show, which is to be held from Wednesday to Saturday at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, would showcase the latest in artificial intelligence (AI)-driven robotics and automation technologies, the organizer said yesterday. The event would highlight applications in smart manufacturing, as well as information and communications technology, the Taiwan Automation Intelligence and Robotics Association said. More than 1,000 companies are to display innovations in semiconductors, electromechanics, industrial automation and intelligent manufacturing, it said in a news release. Visitors can explore automated guided vehicles, 3D machine vision systems and AI-powered applications at the show, along
AI SERVER DEMAND: ‘Overall industry demand continues to outpace supply and we are expanding capacity to meet it,’ the company’s chief executive officer said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday reported that net profit last quarter rose 27 percent from the same quarter last year on the back of demand for cloud services and high-performance computing products. Net profit surged to NT$44.36 billion (US$1.48 billion) from NT$35.04 billion a year earlier. On a quarterly basis, net profit grew 5 percent from NT$42.1 billion. Earnings per share expanded to NT$3.19 from NT$2.53 a year earlier and NT$3.03 in the first quarter. However, a sharp appreciation of the New Taiwan dollar since early May has weighed on the company’s performance, Hon Hai chief financial officer David Huang (黃德才)
FORECAST: The greater computing power needed for emerging AI applications has driven higher demand for advanced semiconductors worldwide, TSMC said The government-supported Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) has raised its forecast for this year’s growth in the output value of Taiwan’s semiconductor industry to above 22 percent on strong global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications. In its latest IEK Current Quarterly Model report, the institute said the local semiconductor industry would have output of NT$6.5 trillion (US$216.6 billion) this year, up 22.2 percent from a year earlier, an upward revision from a 19.1 percent increase estimate made in May. The strong showing of the local semiconductor industry largely reflected the stronger-than-expected performance of the integrated circuit (IC) manufacturing segment,
COLLABORATION: Softbank would supply manufacturing gear to the factory, and a joint venture would make AI data center equipment, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) would operate a US factory owned by Softbank Group Corp, setting up what is in the running to be the first manufacturing site in the Japanese company’s US$500 billion Stargate venture with OpenAI and Oracle Corp. Softbank is acquiring Hon Hai’s electric-vehicle plant in Ohio, but the Taiwanese company would continue to run the complex after turning it into an artificial intelligence (AI) server production plant, Hon Hai chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) said yesterday. Softbank would supply manufacturing gear to the factory, and a joint venture between the two companies would make AI data