Business Briefs

Taiwan to sell bonds

Taiwan to sell NT$100 billion (US$3.3 billion) in bonds in the second quarter to help fund spending, matching the amount in the same period last year, the Ministry of Finance said on its Web site yesterday.

The nation will auction NT$35 billion of five-year notes on April 15, NT$30 billion of 20-year debt on May 6, and NT$35 billion of 10-year bonds on June 10, the ministry said.

Taiwan's needs to borrow to help fund spending because it may have a NT$92.5 billion deficit this year, according to next year's budget approved by the legislature. President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) administration ran a budget surplus last year of NT$110 billion, the official Central News Agency reported on Jan. 12.

Shin Kong Life plans subsidiary

The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) said its policy-making committee had approved an application by Shin Kong Life Insurance Co (新光人壽) to set up an insurance subsidiary in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

The investment of this Vietnamese subsidiary totals 600 billion Vietnamese dong or NT$1.23 billion (US$40 million), the FSC said in a statement on Thursday.

The FSC said that the insurance market in Vietnam had expanded 29 percent annually since 1999, with premium income increasing 24 percent on average each year.

Foreign insurers have increasingly moved to set up local branches or subsidiaries in Vietnam, particularly in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, in the wake of the country's rapid and stable economic growth in recent years, the FSC said.

Five Taiwanese non-life insurance companies and four life insurers have set up a total of 12 branch offices in Vietnam, while four applications are awaiting for approval of the Vietnamese authorities, the statement said.

Mediatek to raise payout

Mediatek Inc (聯發科), Taiwan's biggest semiconductor designer, plans to increase its dividend payout 27 percent to NT$19 (US$0.62) a share for last year, it said in a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange late on Thursday.

The company's dividend payout plan will be voted at its annual general meeting scheduled on June 13, the filing said.

The Hsinchu-based company paid a cash dividend of NT$15 a share a year earlier.

Green energy places giant order

DC Chemical Co., a South Korean maker of petrochemicals and solar power components, secured a 257.6 billion won (US$257 million) polysilicon order from Taiwan's Green Energy Technology Inc (綠能).

The contract runs from January next year until the end of 2016, the Seoul-based company said yesterday in a regulatory filing.

NT dollar hits eight-year high

The New Taiwan dollar gained ground against its US counterpart yesterday, advancing NT$0.142 to close at NT$30.550 in Taipei, an eight-year high, on the back of continued foreign capital inflows, dealers said.

The local currency last finished at a record high when it traded at NT$30.530 versus the US dollar on April 21, 2000. The NT dollar has risen 5.8 percent so far this year, according to Taipei Forex Inc's tallies.

Foreign investors bought a net NT$25.25 billion in Taiwanese shares yesterday, which boosted the benchmark index to close 2.25 percent higher ahead of presidential election today.

Turnover US$1.549 billion on the Taipei Forex Inc yesterday, up from US$1.486 billion the previous day. On the Cosmos foreign exchange market, the NT dollar closed up NT$0.160 at NT$30.505 against the greenback, with a turnover of US$358 million.