Nanya to borrow NT$20 billion
Nanya Technology Co (南亞科技), Taiwan's second-largest memory-chip maker, plans to borrow NT$20 billion (US$609 million) through a syndicated loan in the fourth quarter to fund expansion.
Bank of Taiwan (台灣銀行) and Mega Financial Holding Co (兆豐金控) are among possible managers of the loan, said Moor Chen (陳宏模), a spokesman at Taoyuan-based Nanya, confirming a report in the Chinese-language Commercial Times yesterday.
Nanya had NT$46.3 billion in cash at the end of March and has NT$42 billion in outstanding loans and bonds, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The stock climbed 2.3 percent to close at NT$26.40 on the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday.
Government to sell shares
In line with the government's privatization policy, the Ministry of Finance plans to offload 45 million shares, or a 9.11 percent stake, in the Central Reinsurance Corp (中央再保險公司) by the end of the year. The share sale is expected to bring NT$700 million (US$21.3 million) into state coffers, the National Treasury Agency said.
Next year, the ministry will divest its remaining holding of around 70 million shares, or 14.17 percent of the company, to completely step aside from the reinsurer's operations.
At that time, Evergreen Group (長榮集團) will become the firm's sole major shareholder.
Former Fubon officer detained
Former Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控) chief investment officer Daniel Chiang (蔣國樑) was detained by the Taipei District Court last night after prosecutors appealed for a second time the court's previous ruling to release him on bail.
The court decided to put Chiang in custody amid concerns that he might destroy or falsify evidence, or collude with others.
Chiang was released last Friday on NT$5 million bail after being questioned by Taipei prosecutors about allegations of insider trading. The Taipei District Prosecutors' Office filed an appeal with the Taiwan High Court to overturn the district court's decision.
Prosecutors say Chiang encouraged friends to buy Hsinchu International Bank shares before the announcement of its planned acquisition by Standard Chartered Bank last September -- earning more than NT$100 million from the trades.
Paradigm sold US holdings
Paradigm US Financial Asset Securitization Fund, one of two high-yield Taiwan funds, said it sold holdings with investments in subprime US home loans last month at a loss to meet requests for redemptions.
The sale was also to avoid further losses should default rates rise on home loans to riskier borrowers, according to a statement from Taipei-based Paradigm Asset Management Co (華頓投信) late last month. The fund, which invests mainly in US securities backed by mortgages and other assets, now owns only investment-grade securities rated AAA or above, the statement said.
Assets managed by the fund fell to NT$1.4 billion on June 30 from NT$4.5 billion at its founding on Nov. 9 of last year, data from the Securities Investment Trust & Consulting Association show. The association will disclose last month's assets of Taiwanese mutual funds within two weeks.
Foreign exchange reserves up
Foreign exchange reserves totaled US$266.29 billion at the end of last month, up slightly from US$266.05 billion a month ago, due to continued foreign capital inflow and interest income, central bank figures showed yesterday.
Taiwan is ranked fourth in the world in terms of the amount of the foreign exchange reserves, after China, Japan and Russia.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
FUTURE PLANS: Although the electric vehicle market is getting more competitive, Hon Hai would stick to its goal of seizing a 5 percent share globally, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), a major iPhone assembler and supplier of artificial intelligence (AI) servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s chips, yesterday said it has introduced a rotating chief executive structure as part of the company’s efforts to cultivate future leaders and to enhance corporate governance. The 50-year-old contract electronics maker reported sizable revenue of NT$6.16 trillion (US$189.67 billion) last year. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has been under the control of one man almost since its inception. A rotating CEO system is a rarity among Taiwanese businesses. Hon Hai has given leaders of the company’s six