Lyu appointed to Mega job
The Ministry of Finance yesterday appointed former minister without portfolio Joseph Lyu (呂桔誠) as the replacement for outgoing Mega Financial Holding Co (兆豐金控) chairman Cheng Shen-chih (鄭深池), a ministry statement said.
Lyu will double as chairman of the firm's subsidiary, Mega International Commercial Bank (兆豐國際商銀), the statement said.
The ministry also appointed Kaohsiung City Government Finance Bureau chief Ray Dawn (董瑞斌) to be Mega Financial's president and the chairman of subsidiary Mega Bills Finance Co (兆豐票券), the statement said.
Mega's incumbent president, Mckinney Tsai (蔡友才), will move to head Mega Investment Trust Corp (兆豐國際投信), it said.
The three nominations are expected to be approved at the firm's board meeting today.
Election result boosts shares
Taiwan's share prices closed 1.79 percent higher yesterday after a landslide victory by the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) in weekend parliamentary elections, dealers said.
The weighted index closed up 144.10 points at 8,173.41, having traded in a range of 8,260.88 to 8,097.68 on turnover of NT$168.10 billion (US$5.19 billion).
The tourism sector was up 6.92 percent, cement added 6.54 percent, financials rose 5.64 percent, construction was up 5.16 percent, textiles advanced 5.16 percent and transport rose 2.36 percent.
The electronics sector was down 0.79 percent.
The KMT's win raised hopes for better cross-strait economic ties, giving a boost to tourism-related stocks, dealers said.
Frank Lin, senior vice president at Fubon Securities (富邦證券), said investors were willing to build their investments after the KMT's unexpectedly strong showing.
"Investors are pinning their hopes on better cross-strait relations, no matter who wins the presidential election in March," Lin said.
He said that investors expected more Chinese visitors would be given permission to enter Taiwan.
If that materializes, Lin said "it will boost domestic demand not only for hotels, but also for other related services."
An increase in domestic demand would also help increase the value of assets, he added.
Gold hits record in Hong Kong
Hong Kong gold prices yesterday closed above US$900 for the first time as investors search for a safe haven amid fears of a US economic slowdown and stock market turmoil.
The precious metal closed at US$908 an ounce after passing the US$900 mark at around 2:30pm -- up US$15.50 an ounce from Friday's close of US$892.50, dealers said.
The price had broken through the US$900 mark during trading in New York on Friday following a speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke that was thought to indicate there could be more US interest rate cuts.
Formosa Plastics optimistic
Formosa Plastics Group (台塑), Taiwan's biggest diversified industrial company, expects revenue to rise to a record this year as it expands production.
Revenue will climb from last year's NT$2 trillion (US$62 billion), CEO William Wong (王文淵) told reporters in Mailiao Township (麥寮), Yunlin County, yesterday, without giving an estimate. Sales last year increased 20 percent from 2006, he said.
Formosa Plastics is expanding output to meet demand for its products from manufacturers that make goods including drinking bottles, toys and garments.
"The market was exceptionally good last year as sales in countries such as Vietnam, the US and China all rose quite a lot," Wong said.
Cairo’s new monorail slices across the city skyline, running above the familiar chaos of blaring horns and aging buses’ exhaust fumes that mark rush hour below. The US$4.5 billion monorail, opened this month, is among Egypt’s most prominent new transport projects, part of a debt-funded infrastructure drive criticized for sapping state finances while bringing limited benefits to most of the country’s 109 million people. “It feels like you’re in a different country,” said Ramy Sayed, a restaurant manager, aboard a driverless Innovia 300 train. “No noise, no traffic, we’re not used to this.” The eastern line runs 56km from the bustling middle-class
Starlux Airlines Co (星宇航空) today unveiled a long-haul network expansion plan at a shareholders’ meeting in Taipei, including direct flights to Barcelona, Spain, and Zurich, Switzerland, as well as a service connecting Taipei, Sydney and New Zealand. Starlux is to become the first Taiwanese carrier to offer non-stop services to the two European cities, while the inaugural oceanic route is expected to expand transit opportunities within the Australia-New Zealand market, Starlux said. Flight services to Chicago, Dallas, Washington and New York are under evaluation, the airline added. Prior to the shareholders’ meeting, the airline earlier this year announced that it would be
Taiwanese prosecutors suspect that three people successfully smuggled at least one shipment of Nvidia Corp artificial intelligence (AI) chips to China after first exporting them to Japan, people familiar with the matter said. The trio was detained last week by the Keelung District Prosecutors’ Office for allegedly falsifying documents related to exports of Super Micro Computer Inc servers containing advanced Nvidia chips, which the US has barred from sale to China without a license from Washington. The move marked Taiwan’s first public crackdown on AI chip diversion after years of pressure from the US to take a more active role in curtailing
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) employee bonuses are likely to grow more than 30 percent this year, in line with the past few years as the company’s profits continue to set new records, an anonymous source cited TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) as saying yesterday. TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, is committed to taking care of its workers, the source said, citing Wei’s meeting with employees yesterday morning. Wei also expressed gratitude to employees for their contribution to the company’s improving bottom line, the source added. Since 2023, TSMC’s employee bonuses have grown at an annual rate of
RSS