■ Cathay buys stake in Lucky Bank
Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控), Taiwan's largest financial group, said it bought 81.2 percent of Lucky Bank Taiwan Inc (第七商銀) for NT$4.09 billion (US$128 million), increasing its branches by about a fifth. Cathay Financial bought 49.8 percent of Lucky Bank from shareholders between July 15 and 29, after buying a 31.4 percent stake in June. Closely held Lucky Bank, a regional lender based in Taichung, has 32 branches. "We'll continue to expand our scale via more mergers and acquisitions," Cathay Financial executive vice president Lee Chang-ken (李長庚) said in a telephone interview. The purchase price translates into NT$16 per share, and the acquisition increases Cathay's banking branches to 140, Lee said.
■ Corning may delay production
Corning Inc's second factory in Taiwan may delay production by about three months after torrential rains affected construction, the Economic Daily News reported, without saying where it got the information. Production at the LCD glass substrate plant, which is located in the Central Taiwan Science Park in Taichung, will not start in the fourth quarter, the newspaper said. Corning is the world's largest maker of glass used in flat-panel televisions and computer displays. The company said last year that it will spend US$780 million to increase output in Asia in next two years.
■ Textiles exports decline
Taiwan exported 1.59 million tonnes of textiles in the first half of this year, worth US$5.95 billion, down by 18 percent and 6 percent, respectively, from the previous year, the Taiwan Textile Federation (紡拓會) said yesterday. The domestic industry has come under mounting pressure both at home and abroad since the removal of a global quota system early this year, federation officials said, adding that soaring oil and material prices have added further pressure, wiping out gross earnings. While the domestic industry is facing a serious manpower shortage in marketing and manufacturing at home, products from China, South Korea and India have emerged as strong rivals to Taiwan-made goods in overseas markets, the officials said. The domestic industry has in recent years been troubled by a severe workforce shortage in both management and manufacturing, which is also in part, they said, a result of a crowding-out effect of the high-tech sector.
■ FTA with Guatemala inked
Taiwan and Guatemala concluded negotiations on signing a free trade agreement (FTA) in Guatemala City on Sunday, which will go into effect after the two countries ratify the deal, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement yesterday. Guatemala, the largest economy in Central America, will be Taiwan's second free trade partner after Panama. Under the pact, Guatemala agrees to give zero tariffs on 447 agricultural products imported from Taiwan right after the FTA goes into effect, and Taiwan will revoke tariffs on 644 agricultural imports from Guatemala, the statement said. In industrial goods, Guatemala will allow 3,509 items of Taiwanese industrial products to enter the market, about 60 percent of Taiwanese exports to the country, the ministry said.
■ NT dollar makes gains
The New Taiwan dollar advanced against the US dollar on the Taipei Foreign Exchange yesterday, gaining NT$0.076 to close at NT$31.920. A total of US$664 million changed hands during the day's trading.
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