The nation’s hypermarkets and department stores said yesterday they are conservative about sales growth in the second half of this year as consumer spending is likely to be undercut by higher oil and electricity prices.
Far Eastern Department Stores Ltd (遠東百貨), the nation’s third largest department store chain with eight stores nationwide, expects sales to grow by 5 percent year-on-year in the second half, down from 8 percent growth in the first half.
Meo Cheng (鄭家蕙), public relations manager at Far Eastern, said the recent increase in the oil price had lowered the shopping frequency rate of its customers as they attempt to save money on gasoline.
Far Eastern Geant Co (愛買), the third-largest hypermarket chain in Taiwan, said it hoped sales growth this quarter would be maintained at 10 percent year-on-year.
“But it will still depend on sales performance during the upcoming Moon Festival [Aug. 15], which is one of the most important holiday periods for hypermarkets, as it generally accounts for 20 percent of our annual sales,” Henry Yin (尹皓), public relations assistant manager at Far Eastern Geant, said yesterday.
Both Far Eastern Department Stores and Far Eastern Geant, along with three other stores and hypermarkets, received awards from the Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday in recognition of their efforts to help stimulate domestic consumption through the launch of various promotional activities.
Mercuries Life Insurance Co (三商美邦人壽) shares surged to a seven-month high this week after local media reported that E.Sun Financial Holding Co (玉山金控) had outbid CTBC Financial Holding Co (中信金控) in the financially strained insurer’s ongoing sale process. Shares of the mid-sized life insurer climbed 5.8 percent this week to NT$6.72, extending a nearly 18 percent rally over the past month, as investors bet on the likelihood of an impending takeover. The final round of bidding closed on Thursday, marking a critical step in the 32-year-old insurer’s search for a buyer after years of struggling to meet capital adequacy requirements. Local media reports
US sports leagues rushed to get in on the multi-billion US dollar bonanza of legalized betting, but the arrest of an National Basketball Association (NBA) coach and player in two sprawling US federal investigations show the potential cost of partnering with the gambling industry. Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, a former Detroit Pistons star and an NBA Hall of Famer, was arrested for his alleged role in rigged illegal poker games that prosecutors say were tied to Mafia crime families. Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier was charged with manipulating his play for the benefit of bettors and former NBA player and
The DBS Foundation yesterday announced the launch of two flagship programs, “Silver Motion” and “Happier Caregiver, Healthier Seniors,” in partnership with CCILU Ltd, Hondao Senior Citizens’ Welfare Foundation and the Garden of Hope Foundation to help Taiwan face the challenges of a rapidly aging population. The foundation said it would invest S$4.91 million (US$3.8 million) over three years to foster inclusion and resilience in an aging society. “Aging may bring challenges, but it also brings opportunities. With many Asian markets rapidly becoming super-aged, the DBS Foundation is working with a regional ecosystem of like-minded partners across the private, public and people sectors
BREAKTHROUGH TECH: Powertech expects its fan-out PLP system to become mainstream, saying it can offer three-times greater production throughput Chip packaging service provider Powertech Technology Inc (力成科技) plans to more than double its capital expenditures next year to more than NT$40 billion (US$1.31 billion) as demand for its new panel-level packaging (PLP) technology, primarily used in chips for artificial intelligence (AI) applications, has greatly exceeded what it can supply. A significant portion of the budget, about US$1 billion, would be earmarked for fan-out PLP technology, Powertech told investors yesterday. Its heavy investment in fan-out PLP technology over the past 10 years is expected to bear fruit in 2027 after the technology enters volume production, it said, adding that the tech would
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