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Food, retail shares rise on plan to issue consumer vouchers

In the wake of the government’s announcement of a plan to issue consumer vouchers to all Taiwanese citizens, stocks in the food, department store and consumer retail sectors — which are expected to benefit the most from the new plan — led the gains on the local bourse yesterday.

Food stocks including manufacturers Ve Wong Corp (味王), Charoen Pokphand Enterprise (Taiwan) Co (卜蜂), AGV Products Corp (愛之味), Lian Hwa Foods Corp (聯華食品) and Namchow Group (南僑集團) all saw their shares close limit-up on the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday.

Ve Wong rose to NT$11.6 from NT$10.85, Charoen Pokphand closed at NT$10.05 after closing at NT$9.42 yesterday and AGV Products closed at NT$5.5, compared with NT$5.16 — all three hitting the 7 percent daily maximum.

Share prices for Far Eastern Department Stores Ltd (遠東百貨), the nation’s only listed department store chain, jumped limit-up to NT$13.8 at the start of trading yesterday, while local conglomerate Mercuries & Associates Ltd (三商行), and the leading retailer of children’s garments, Les Enphants Co (麗嬰房), were trading limit-up by midday.

The announcement also helped bolster share prices of the country’s two largest consumer electronics retailers — Tsann Kuen Enterprise Co (燦坤實業) and E-Life Mall Corp (全國電子), which both closed limit-up for the second straight day.

After the Cabinet announced yesterday that the issuance of consumption vouchers would not be limited to lower-income households, department store retailers began to map out strategies to grab a piece of the pie.

To take advantage of the opportunity, department store operators in Taiwan are considering models similar to the successful “Fortune Bags” (福袋) model used during the Lunar New Year holiday, when the stores hand out gift bags to consumers who spend a certain amount of money.

As to what consumers will do with their vouchers, hypermarket and department store chain operators believe they will mostly spend on daily necessities, while home appliance retailers are upbeat about sales of items priced around NT$1,000.

Pacific Sogo Department Stores (太平洋崇光百貨) predicted that consumers would likely use their vouchers around the Lunar New Year holiday and spend on a variety of products and services including supermarket goods, dining, home appliances, consumer electronics, stationery, children’s apparel, women’s seasonal clothing and accessories, health products, down jackets and bed comforters.
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