■ UMC verdict out tomorrow
Kong Jaw-sheng (龔照勝), chairman of the Financial Supervisory Commission, told lawmakers yesterday that the commission will decide by tomorrow whether United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電) broke the law on information disclosure, regarding a suspect investment in China's He Jian Technol-ogy (Suzhou) Co (和艦). If UMC did break the nation's Securities and Exchange Law (證交法), the company will be subject to a fine of between NT$120,000 and NT$2.4 million, Kong said. The Hsinchu Prosecutors Office is also investigating UMC's alleged illegal investments in He Jian, as that investment practice violates the Act Governing Relations Between Peoples of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (兩岸人民關係條例).
■ Morgan Stanley lifts Acer
The US investment bank Morgan Stanley yesterday reiterated its overweight rating on Acer Inc and raised their forecasts for the firm's earnings per share (EPS) for this and next year by 3.4 percent and 7.5 percent to NT$3.66 and NT$4.46, respectively. In the wake of better core computer-business profit outlook, Acer's operating profit may exceed NT$6.58 billion for this year, Morgan Stanley's analyst Ellen Tseng (曾雅蘭) said in a report. The figure is up from a previous estimate of NT$5.97 billion for the year. "Acer merits a re-rating because of its fast revenue growth," Tseng (曾雅蘭) said. Contribution from core business earnings is estimated to rise to 70 percent and 81 percent of total earnings for this and next year, up from 40 percent last year, Tseng said. Morgan Stanley in the meantime raised its price target for Acer, the world's fifth-largest computer vendor by shipment, to NT$61.6 from NT$59.5.
■ Flat-screen prices may rise
Taiwan's five flat-panel display makers may raise 17-inch screen prices as early as the end of April, following a move by Samsung Electronics Co, a Chinese-language newspaper reported yesterday, citing company executives. AU Optronics Corp (友達光電), Taiwan's largest maker of flat-panel displays used in computers and televisions, says it may raise the screen prices by the end of April or early May, the Taipei-based newspaper reported today, citing AU executive vice president Hsiung Hui (熊暉). Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd (中華映管), Taiwan's third-largest flat- screen maker, plans to raise prices of 17-inch panels in May, the newspaper said, citing company vice president Liu Chih-chun (劉治軍).
■ Science parks face outages
The nation's science-based industrial parks may face electricity shortages by 2009, when power supply could lag far behind demand, a Chinese-language business daily reported yesterday, citing Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) officials. Companies in Hsinchu Science Park and Central Taiwan Science Park, which house most of the country's electronics companies, have not been providing details to Taipower about the extra power they will need when they plan expanding, the newspaper said. State-owned Taipower generates about 75 percent of the electricity the nation uses and has a monopoly on transmission.
■ NT dollar unchanged
The New Taiwan dollar erased losses on speculation the nation's exporters converted their overseas earnings into the local currency to take advantage of the greenback's two straight weekly declines. The NT dollar was unchanged at NT$31.699 against its US counterpart, up from a low of NT$31.76, according to Taipei Forex Inc. Turnover was US$732 million, down from US$965 million last Friday.
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