Speculation fuels AUO rally
Shares of AU Optronics Corp (友達光電), the nation’s No. 2 LCD panel supplier, rallied 2.74 percent yesterday to close at NT$33.80 amid speculation that it could receive the go-ahead from the government to begin its US$3 billion plan to build a new plant in China next month at the earliest.
The Chinese-language Economic Daily News reported yesterday that the Ministry of Economic Affairs was set to review AU Optronics’ Chinese investment proposal by the end of this month after the panel maker submitted more information on the investment plan.
However, Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Huang Chung-chiou (黃重球) told the Taipei Times yesterday that “no timetable has been set for the review, though AU Optronics has already done all the paper work.”
Chimei Innolux plans buyback
Chimei Innolux Corp’s (奇美電子) board approved a plan to buy back and cancel 732 million preferred shares, the Miaoli-based panel maker said in a stock exchange filing yesterday.
The proposal still needs to be approved by shareholders at a meeting on June 29.
The board also approved a plan to sell as many as 700 million new shares via a private placement or issuance of global depositary receipts. The proceeds will be used to fund expansion, buy raw materials or boost working capital, the company said.
Ta Chong share cut approved
Ta Chong Bank Ltd (大眾銀行) said on Wednesday its board had approved plans to cancel 20 percent of its shares to improve its capital structure and make up for accumulated losses.
The Taipei-based lender plans to sell as many as 3.6 billion common shares in a private placement or by issuing global depositary receipts, it said in a stock exchange filing.
The plans need shareholders’ approval at a meeting to be held on June 29, the bank said.
Only 10% have filed taxes: poll
Nearly 90 percent of taxpayers will not file income taxes until after the middle of this month, the latest survey by 1111 Job Bank showed yesterday.
The online human resources agency cited data provided by the Ministry of Finance, saying that as of Monday, only 12 percent of taxpayers, or 655,000 people, had completed filing income taxes.
“Although online tax filing services have substantially increased the convenience of filing income taxes, those polled rated convenience of such services only 49 points [out of 100],” the report said.
Job seekers swarm Taisugar
The state-run Taiwan Sugar Corp (Taisugar, 台糖) said it received more than 2,500 applications for 58 positions that it had advertised as part of a government job creation program.
Taisugar said it plans to hire only 2.32 percent of the applicants, who will be assigned to its administrative, ethics, finance, information, land development and civil engineering departments at branches located mostly in central and southern Taiwan.
NT dollar advances 0.4%
The New Taiwan dollar pared gains in late trading on speculation the central bank intervened to check appreciation that could hurt exports.
The NT dollar appreciated 0.4 percent to close at NT$31.778 against its US counterpart, according to Taipei Forex Inc. The currency has climbed 0.8 percent this year as foreign investors plowed US$2.1 billion into local equities.
The monetary authority sold the local currency in the final minutes of trading for a third day, according to two traders familiar with the matter who declined to be identified.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last