The board of Yulon Nissan Motor Co (
The board of the nation's third-largest automaker also re-elected Kenneth Yan (嚴凱泰) as company chairman. He will begin his new term on July 1, according to a company statement released yesterday.
The dividend offering by Yulon Nissan came a day after China Motor Corp's (中華汽車) offering. On Thursday, China Motor, the nation's second-largest automaker and also owned by Yan, said its shareholders approved a plan to pay a cash dividend of NT$1.50 a share and a stock dividend of 1.5 percent of shares held.
Yulon Nissan is a joint venture that Yulon Motor Co (裕隆汽車) set up with Japan's Nissan Motor Corp in October 2003 to promote Nissan-branded vehicles in Taiwan, while Yulon Motor focuses on the contract manufacturing business.
In a report dated June 5, Taiwan Ratings Corp (中華信評), the local arm of global rating agency Standard & Poor's Rating Services, reaffirmed its "twA" long-term and "twA-2" short-term corporate credit ratings on Yulon Motor.
"Ratings on Yulon Motor are not expected to change over the next year. Despite fierce market competition and a less favorable environment, we expect the company to maintain a strong balance sheet and ample liquidity to weather the cyclical conditions," the statement said.
However, declining auto sales volumes will worsen competition and pricing pressure, which is set to challenge Yulon Motor in maintaining its market share, even with the launch of its new Tiida sedans, according to Taiwan Ratings.
Due to the consumer bad debt issue, the nation's car sales during the first five months plunged 24.5 percent over the same period last year to 174,263 units, according to figures from the Ministry of Transportation and Communications.
Shares of Yulon Motor rose 5.8 percent to close at NT$39.2 on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, while China Motor were up 3.85 percent to NT$32.4.
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