■ Chi Mei to sell shares
Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp (奇美電子), the nation's second-biggest maker of flat-panel displays used in computers and televisions, said stockholders yesterday approved a plan to sell as many as 350 million common shares. Proceeds from the sale, which will be conducted through a private placement, will be used for working capital and to redeem the company's preferred shares, Chi Mei said in a statement. The planned sale may be worth NT$16 billion (US$493 million), based on Chi Mei stock's closing price of NT$45.75. The offering price of the shares "will be subject to the decision of the chairman of the board of directors," said the statement, which didn't provide the timing of the sale.
■ Fubon announces REIT result
Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控), the nation's third-largest financial services company by market value, said it raised NT$7.3 billion (US$225 million) selling its second real estate investment trust (REIT). The sale attracted orders for three times the shares offered, the company said in a statement late on Thursday. Institutional investors took 55 percent of the issue, while individual investors took 45 percent, it said. Fubon announced plans for its second REIT in October, saying it would use proceeds from the sale to buy three commercial buildings in Taipei. Fubon Securities Corp (富邦證券), the group's brokerage arm, last year raised NT$5.83 billion in Taiwan's first REIT.
■ 2005 export figures released
Data from the Bureau of Foreign Trade shows that Taiwan's export volume totaled US$189.39 billion last year, with electronic products amounting to US$45.72 billion and accounting for 24.1 percent of the total export value. The top 10 exporters last year were Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化), AU Optronics Corp (友達光電), Chinese Petroleum Corp (中油), Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp (奇美電子), Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), Nan Ya Plastics Corp (南亞塑膠), Formosa Chemicals and Fiber Corp (台灣化纖), HTC Corp (宏達電子), Formosa Plastics Corp (台灣塑膠) and Asustek Computer Inc (華碩電腦), which together exported a total of US$30.11 billion-worth of products, accounting for 15.9 percent of the total value of the country's exports. During that period, the TFT-LCD module supplier Innolux Display Corp (群創光電) and the DRAM supplier Inotera Memories Inc (華亞科技) were the two exporters that posted the highest growth, reporting exports last year that were 153 times and 3.29 times higher, respectively, than the previous year.
■ Direct exports to US decline
Direct exports gained a 2.08 percent share of the US market last year, down 0.28 percentage points over the previous year, according to the latest tallies released by the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS). DGBAS officials attributed the decline to the fact that most manufacturers have increased their overseas production ratio. In the Japanese market,Taiwan's export share also fell, to 3.5 percent last year from 3.66 percent the previous year. The three largest exporters to the Japanese market last year were China, the US and Australia, which accounted for 21 percent, 12.39 percent and 4.74 percent of the market, according to the DGBAS.
■ NT dollar continues to rise
The New Taiwan dollar continued gaining ground against its US counterpart yesterday, rising NT$0.077 to close at NT$32.460 on the Taipei foreign exchange market. Turnover was US$1.02 billion.
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