■ MediaTek profits down
MediaTek Inc (聯發科技), the world's largest maker of chips for DVD players, saw third-quarter profits slip to NT$4.2 billion (US$124 million), or NT$5.52 a share, the company said in a statement. The figures compare with NT$4.5 billion, or NT$5.91 a share, a year ago. MediaTek had a non-operating investment net loss of NT$338 million, compared with net income of NT$8 million a year ago. Third-quarter sales rose 6 percent to NT$11.2 billion. The company's gross margin widened to 51.9 percent from 47.9 percent in the second quarter, and from 51.4 percent a year ago. The gross margin was supported by licensing fee proceeds from VIA Optical Solution Inc (威騰光電). Excluding fee proceeds, gross margin for the third quarter was 47.9 percent, unchanged from the previous quarter.
■ Czech cargo route opens
China Airlines (華航) plans to start a cargo service to the Czech Repub-lic mid-next month to meet rising European demand for Asian goods, the company said yesterday. The airline will use Boeing 747-400F planes on its twice-weekly flights to Prague, the carrier said in a statement. "Due to the strong euro dollar in recent years, European demand for Asian products has increased considerably," the airline said. China Airlines said it currently offers 13 cargo flights and 15 passenger flights to Europe each week. Destinations include Luxembourg, Milan, Frankfurt and Amsterdam.
■ Big gains in telco output
The production value of the nation's telecommunications industry is expected to hit about NT$432.3 billion (US$12.8 billion) this year, marking an annual growth rate of 21.4 percent, according to statistics compiled by the Ministry of Economic Affairs. Of the more than NT$400 billion in production output, the broadband industry and the telecommunications facilities sector will generate some 40.8 percent and 59.2 percent respectively. A senior manager at the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) forecast that the sector will be able to yield NT$480.9 billion in production this year, up by 11.2 percent over the previous year's level. It is worth noting that the telecommunications equipment sector is gradually gaining an upper hand over the broadband sector thanks to the widespread penetration of mobile phones, which the ITRI manager said will lead to rapid development in the wireless network.
■ M2 growth drops slightly
M2 money supply growth slowed for a fourth month, according to a central bank statement. M2, the broadest measure of the nation's money supply, rose 7.1 percent last month from a year earlier, less than the 7.3 percent gain in August. M1A, which tracks net currency in circulation plus checking accounts and passbook deposits, expanded 20.9 percent last month after growing 24.4 percent in August, the statement said. M1B, which excludes time deposits and foreign-currency deposits included in M2, grew 16.8 percent last month, after rising 18 percent in the previous month. "Those growth rates [of money supply] were lower than those recorded in the previous month mainly due to the relatively higher base of last year," the central bank said in the statement. Loans and investments by major financial institutions rose 7.1 percent last month.
■ NT dollar continues climb
The New Taiwan dollar continued its strong performance against the US dollar, rising NT$0.103 to close yesterday at NT$33.693 on the Taipei foreign exchange market. Turnover was US$673.5 million.
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