■ Ruentex wins station contract
Ruentex Development Co (潤泰創新國際) won the contract to develop Taipei's Nangang Station, which will service conventional rail, high-speed rail and mass rapid transit passengers, according to a press release issued by Jones Lang LaSalle Taiwan yesterday.
Ruentex is the only developer to have submitted an application and is scheduled to sign the 50-year contract with Taiwan Railway Administration in December.
The firm plans to integrate offices, hotels, retail stores, catering and entertainment facilities in the facility, with an investment target set at NT$4.7 billion (US$143 million), the statement said.
The first part of the operate-transfer deal, which will occupy 17,000-ping (56,100m2) of floor space, is scheduled to open in 2011. The second part, a build-operate-transfer facility that will have a 25,000-ping floor space, will commence operations in 2014.
■ Roundtable elects new chair
Chien Hung-wen (簡鴻文), chairman of Mega Securities Corp (兆豐證券) and the Taiwan Securities Association (券商公會), was elected chairman of the Taiwan Financial Services Roundtable (金融總會), replacing Cheng Shen-chih (鄭深池), chairman of Mega Financial Holding Co (兆豐金控), according to a statement that was released yesterday.
Cheng resigned from the position last week.
The roundtable also elected Lin Ming-chen (林明成), chairman of Hua Nan Financial Holding Co (華南金控), as vice-chairman, the statement read.
■ Fitch: Cathay REIT is sound
Fitch Ratings yesterday was expected to give its National Long-term `A(twn)' and National Short-term `F1(twn)' ratings to the Cathay No.2 Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) Fund, according to a press release. The outlook for the REIT was rated as stable.
Cathay No.2 is sponsored by Cathay Life Insurance Corp (國泰人壽) and manages three office buildings, including MinSheng Building, World Building and AnHo Building.
Cathay No.2's initial issue size is NT$7.2 billion, of which MinSheng accounts for 51 percent, World 29 percent, and AnHo 21 percent, the statement said.
The expected ratings address Cathay No.2's capacity for timely payment of its financial obligations, the statement said.
Fitch attributed the ratings to the robustness of the cash flows generated by the properties it holds in trust, the availability of its credit line of NT$100 million, the NT$50 million cash reserve provided by Cathay Life Insurance for future capital expenses and the sound legal and financial structure of the transaction.
■ More China investment likely
More Taiwan investors in China are planning to expand their investments there to benefit from lower production costs and to gain access to the growing mainland market, a survey showed yesterday.
The survey, compiled by the Taiwan Electric and Electronic Manufacturers' Association (TEEMA, 電電公會), showed that more than 57 percent of the respondents said they were planning to pour more capital into China, compared with 36 percent a year earlier.
At the same time, fewer companies were willing to increase spending at home, with only 35 percent saying that they would continue investing in Taiwan, down from 41 percent last year.
The association conducts the survey once a year.
■ NT dollar closes higher
The New Taiwan dollar traded higher against its US counterpart yesterday, rising NT$0.022 to close at NT$32.884 on the Taipei foreign exchange market.
Turnover was US$674 million.
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