Winbond secures NT$8 billion loan

Winbond Electronics Corp (華邦電子), the nation's No. 4 computer chipmaker by sales, got a NT$8 billion (US$251 million) loan from 23 banks to expand production.

Bank of Taiwan (台灣銀行), the nation's First Commercial Bank (一銀), Chinatrust Commercial Bank (中國信託) and Taishin International Bank (台新銀行), are the main arrangers of the five-year loan, the Hsinchu, Taiwan-based company said today in an e-mailed statement.

Winbond will pay an interest margin of 54 basis points more than the two-year time-deposit rate for savings in the nation's post offices.

The two-year rate was set today at 1.69 percent, according to a banker involved in the loan. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point.

The company, which makes computer chips for mobile phones and toys, is borrowing to help fund a new plant in central Taiwan that is expected to open next year, said Mike Liu (劉重光), deputy director of Winbond's public relations, in an interview.

Winbond reported a profit of NT$3.3 billion for the first nine months of last year, compared with loss of NT$1.3 billion in the same period of 2003, according to the company's Web site.