Share prices close higher
Taiwanese share prices closed higher yesterday, with the weighted index, the market’s key barometer, moving up 12.84 points, or 0.16 percent, to close at 8,025.93.
The local bourse opened at 8,046.29 and fluctuated between a low of 8,021.91 and a high of 8,050.99 during the day’s trading.
Market turnover was NT$108.12 billion (US$3.41 billion).
Five of the eight major stock categories lost ground, with textile issues dropping the most at 0.36 percent. Construction shares plunged 0.25 percent, paper and pulp issues were down 0.19 percent, foodstuff shares moved down 0.05 percent and banking and financial stocks were down 0.02 percent.
Two of the major stock categories gained ground, with cement issues gaining the most at 0.42 percent and machinery and electronics stocks rising 0.21 percent.
Foreign investors and Chinese qualified domestic institutional investors were net buyers of NT$8.47 billion in shares.
Far EasTone forecasts boost
Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳) forecasts revenue to climb 11.1 percent to NT$59.7 billion (US$1.88 billion) this year, with earnings per share of NT$2.85, the Taipei-based company said in a filing to the Taiwan stock exchange yesterday.
Far EasTone estimates its pre-tax profit may fall 7.4 percent to NT$11.7 billion this year because of higher operational costs on promotions and the establishment of the 3G stations, the statement said.
Mediatek to offer 3G platform
Mediatek Inc (聯發科), Taiwan’s largest chip designer, plans to offer a software and hardware platform for third-generation phones using Google Inc’s Android operating system by the end of this year, Sophia Liang (梁厚誼), an investor relations official at the company, said yesterday.
Mediatek will have a design that will include wireless communication chips, touch-screens and related software to allow clients to make their own Android handset, Liang said.
Soft-World to distribute JX World
Soft-World International Corp (智冠科技) won a licensing agreement from Kingsoft Corp (金山在線) through a subsidiary to distribute the JX World (劍俠世界) online game in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau, the Kaohsiung-based company said in an exchange filing yesterday.
No Sumitomo decision yet
Taiwan’s Chinatrust Financial Holding Co (中信金控) said the board had not reached any decision to sell a stake to Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc and declined to comment on a report by the Economic Daily News, the company said in a filing to the Taiwan stock exchange.
The Chinese-lanugage newspaper yesterday reported Sumitomo Mistui plans to invest in Chinatrust Financial by buying shares through a private placement offered by the Taipei-based company.
NT dollar advances
The New Taiwan dollar advanced, capping a weekly gain, as overseas investors added to their holdings of the nation’s shares for a sixth straight day amid speculation a trade accord with China will boost earnings.
Global funds plowed more than a US$1 billion into local equities this week.
“The Taiwan dollar is still on a rising trend,” said Henry Lin, a currency trader at Taiwan Shin Kong Commercial Bank (新光銀行) in Taipei. “The China trade issue is attracting overseas funds.”
The local dollar strengthened 0.1 percent to NT$31.759 against its US counterpart as of 4pm local time, according to Taipei Forex Inc.
It advanced 0.4 percent this week and touched an 18-month high of NT$31.667 on March 18.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
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RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
FUTURE PLANS: Although the electric vehicle market is getting more competitive, Hon Hai would stick to its goal of seizing a 5 percent share globally, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), a major iPhone assembler and supplier of artificial intelligence (AI) servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s chips, yesterday said it has introduced a rotating chief executive structure as part of the company’s efforts to cultivate future leaders and to enhance corporate governance. The 50-year-old contract electronics maker reported sizable revenue of NT$6.16 trillion (US$189.67 billion) last year. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has been under the control of one man almost since its inception. A rotating CEO system is a rarity among Taiwanese businesses. Hon Hai has given leaders of the company’s six