China Television Co (CTV, 中視) yesterday decided to appeal to the courts against the Securities and Futures' Investors Protection Cen-ter's provisional seizure of its two buildings over the Procomp Infor-matics Co (博達科技) scandal.
"Like all other investors, CTV is also a victim of Procomp Informatics' default," CTV vice president Chen Jiu (陳車) told a press conference at the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
CTV -- the majority of whose shares are held by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-owned Hua Hsia Investment Holding Co (華夏投資) -- saw its shares open limit down yesterday as investors weighed possible links to Procomp. The shares closed 7 percent lower at NT$10.6.
Chen said that CTV chairwoman Cheng Su-ming (鄭淑敏), who served on the Procomp supervisory board, committed no wrongdoing as an outside supervisor and therefore, CTV shouldn't be punished.
Chen urged the center to safeguard the rights of CTV's investors while seeking compensation for Procomp investors.
Accompanied by judges, center officials on Monday seized two CTV buildings worth NT$2 billion as part of their efforts to offset some of the NT$3.3 billion in claims filed by Procomp investors. The center filed a lawsuit against 19 members of Procomp's management, including Procomp chairwoman Sophia Yeh (葉素菲) and Cheng.
Although CTV has already used the two buildings as collateral for NT$1.6 billion in loans, center officials believe the buildings' remaining net worth of NT$400 million can offset some claims.
In addition to trying to get the seizure overturned, CTV will also seek a court order, requesting the center to open court trials in 20 days in order to minimize any negative impact the seizure might have on its short-term liquidity, Chen said.
Ryanair, Transavia, Volotea and other low-cost airlines are feeling the financial pain from high jet fuel prices as a result of the Middle East war and are cutting flights. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has taken a huge chunk of oil supplies off the market, sending the price of jet fuel soaring and triggering fears of shortages that could force airlines to cancel flights. Airlines are not waiting for a lack of supplies to react. “Travel alert: Airlines are cutting thousands of flights right now,” Travel Therapy host Karen Schaler said in an Instagram reel this past weekend.
MANAGING RISKS: Taiwan has secured LNG sufficient to cover 95 percent of electricity demand for next month, UBS said, describing the government’s approach as proactive UBS Group AG has raised its forecast for Taiwan’s economic growth this year to 8 percent, up from 6.9 percent previously, and said expansion could reach as high as 8.6 percent if external energy shocks are avoided. The upgrade reflects a stronger-than-expected first-quarter performance and sustained momentum in artificial intelligence (AI)-driven exports, which UBS said are providing a firm foundation for growth despite geopolitical and energy risks. Taiwan’s GDP expanded 13.69 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, the fastest growth since the second quarter of 1987, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) reported on Thursday. On a seasonally
The Fair Trade Commission’s (FTC) ongoing review of Grab Holdings Ltd’s US$600 million acquisition of Foodpanda Taiwan’s operations, announced on March 23, has taken on fresh urgency as industry experts warn that the transaction could embed significant Chinese cybersecurity vulnerabilities into Taiwan’s digital infrastructure through Grab’s deep ties to autonomous-driving firm WeRide (文遠知行). Less than 16 months after the FTC blocked Uber Eats’ direct attempt to acquire Foodpanda Taiwan — citing potential combined market shares of 80 to 90 percent — the emergence of Grab as the buyer has prompted questions about whether the same competitive harm is simply being rerouted
The list of Asian stocks that benefit from business partnership with Nvidia Corp is getting longer, as the region further integrates into the artificial intelligence (AI) chip giant’s business ecosystem. Just in the past week, South Korea’s LG Electronics Inc, Taiwan’s Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技), as well as China’s Huizhou Desay SV Automotive Co (德賽西威) and Pateo Connect Technology Shanghai Corp (博泰車聯) have become the latest to rally on news of tie-ups, supply-chain participation or product collaboration with the US chip designer. Asian suppliers account for about 90 percent of Nvidia’s production costs, up from about 65 percent last year, data compiled