Taiwan Ratings Corp (中華信評), a local arm of Standard & Poor's, yesterday adjusted its credit ratings for 63 of 110 corporate clients, most of which are financial institutions, with a more stable outlook on their long-term corporate credit ratings.
"Our review has found that the risk profile of certain financial institutions has improved beyond our original expectations," Mei Chiang (
Chiang attributed the improvement to the accelerated integration within financial holding company (FHC) groups, better risk management -- especially by securities firms -- and continued indirect system support for licensed banks.
According to the agency's review, the long-term corporate credit ratings for 30 banks, 20 securities brokers, two insurance companies, three bill-finance companies and three financial-service companies have been slightly upgraded.
Among them, the outlook for the Bank of Taiwan's (台灣銀行) long-term corporate credit rating was upgraded from negative to stable with a "twAAA" rating while that of Shin Kong Commercial Bank (新光銀行) was also upgraded from a "twBB+" rating to a "twA-" rating with a stable outlook unchanged.
"The immediate capital injection [from its parent Shin Kong Financial Holding Co (
According to Chiang, the fact that integration among FHC group members, especially in terms of organizational structure and human capital, has proceeded relatively smoothly since 2001 also supports the agency's view that the smaller, financially weaker members of FHC groups are better able to rely on support from stronger group members.
Meanwhile, rationalization and consolidation among domestic securities firms have resulted in stronger industry players and largely mitigated the risks posed by deregulation, she said.
She also praised the government's consistent efforts in pushing forward financial reforms so that the level of system or government support -- implicit support for smaller, financially weaker banks, and indirect support in government-linked banks -- has moved up a notch.
Taiwan Ratings also adjusted the ratings of five corporate entities, including two telecommunications players -- Taiwan Cellular Corp (台灣大哥大) and Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信) -- and Asia Cement Corp (亞洲水泥).
"With three strong rivals, the local telecommunications sector is the most healthy of all," said Tony Tsai (
The rating agency had previously upgraded issuers in the steel, semiconductor foundry, automobile, shipping and petrochemical industries.
But yesterday's move was to upgrade issuers in the telecommunications, cement, printed circuit board and real-estate industries, as they have shown stronger financial profiles as a result of improved industry conditions and enhanced operating performance, Tsai said.
Eddy Yang (
After seven years of assigning ratings and collating default and ratings transition data, the timing was right for a strategic review of the original ratings portfolio, he said.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”