China Airlines Ltd (CAL, 中華航空), Taiwan’s largest carrier, made its biggest quarterly profit in five years because of an economic rebound and the addition of more flights to China.
The carrier had a net income of NT$1.18 billion (US$37 million) in the three months ended December, compared with a loss of NT$19.9 billion a year earlier.
The fourth-quarter profit, derived from full-year results announced yesterday, was less than the NT$1.27 billion median of five analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. However, the quarterly figure was the highest since the third quarter of 2004.
CAL and EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) boosted services to China, after the two sides across the Taiwan Strait agreed to more than double the total number of cross-strait flights to 270 a week from Aug. 31. Travel and cargo demand also improved as Taiwan exited a recession.
“China Airlines is out of the woods now, as demand has returned to levels before the global financial crisis,” said Peter Tzeng (曾耀德), a Taipei-based Polaris Securities Co (寶來證券), who has an “equalweight” rating on the stock. “The golden routes with China have helped.”
CAL’s loss narrowed to NT$3.8 billion last year, or NT$1.04 a share, from NT$32.4 billion, or NT$10.25 in 2008, it said in a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday. The carrier made a full-year gain of NT$2.53 billion from revaluing financial assets, such as fuel-hedging contracts.
Shares of CAL fell 0.9 percent to NT$11.05 at the close of trading in Taipei. The benchmark TAIEX index rose 0.19 percent.
Separately, the company said its board yesterday approved a proposal to issue as much as NT$5 billion in unsecured bonds in a private placement to repay debt. The three-year bonds would have an interest rate of 2.8 percent, a separate exchange filing said yesterday.
As the company continued losses last year, CAL said its board proposed canceling distribution of dividends to shareholders, while its board of directors would receive no compensation and no bonuses for employees, the company said in a separate exchange filing yesterday.
The carrier will seek shareholder approval for the bond sale and other proposals at the June 29 annual general meeting.
Additional reporting by Kevin Chen
SEEKING CLARITY: Washington should not adopt measures that create uncertainties for ‘existing semiconductor investments,’ TSMC said referring to its US$165 billion in the US Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) told the US that any future tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors could reduce demand for chips and derail its pledge to increase its investment in Arizona. “New import restrictions could jeopardize current US leadership in the competitive technology industry and create uncertainties for many committed semiconductor capital projects in the US, including TSMC Arizona’s significant investment plan in Phoenix,” the chipmaker wrote in a letter to the US Department of Commerce. TSMC issued the warning in response to a solicitation for comments by the department on a possible tariff on semiconductor imports by US President Donald Trump’s
The government has launched a three-pronged strategy to attract local and international talent, aiming to position Taiwan as a new global hub following Nvidia Corp’s announcement that it has chosen Taipei as the site of its Taiwan headquarters. Nvidia cofounder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Monday last week announced during his keynote speech at the Computex trade show in Taipei that the Nvidia Constellation, the company’s planned Taiwan headquarters, would be located in the Beitou-Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區) in Taipei. Huang’s decision to establish a base in Taiwan is “primarily due to Taiwan’s talent pool and its strength in the semiconductor
An earnings report from semiconductor giant and artificial intelligence (AI) bellwether Nvidia Corp takes center stage for Wall Street this week, as stocks hit a speed bump of worries over US federal deficits driving up Treasury yields. US equities pulled back last week after a torrid rally, as investors turned their attention to tax and spending legislation poised to swell the US government’s US$36 trillion in debt. Long-dated US Treasury yields rose amid the fiscal worries, with the 30-year yield topping 5 percent and hitting its highest level since late 2023. Stocks were dealt another blow on Friday when US President Donald
UNCERTAINTY: Investors remain worried that trade negotiations with Washington could go poorly, given Trump’s inconsistency on tariffs in his second term, experts said The consumer confidence index this month fell for a ninth consecutive month to its lowest level in 13 months, as global trade uncertainties and tariff risks cloud Taiwan’s economic outlook, a survey released yesterday by National Central University found. The biggest decline came from the timing for stock investments, which plunged 11.82 points to 26.82, underscoring bleak investor confidence, it said. “Although the TAIEX reclaimed the 21,000-point mark after the US and China agreed to bury the hatchet for 90 days, investors remain worried that the situation would turn sour later,” said Dachrahn Wu (吳大任), director of the university’s Research Center for
RSS