Shares up on bargain-hunting
The TAIEX closed up 1.06 percent yesterday as the euro stabilized against the US dollar, suggesting investors could take a breather from the eurozone’s debt problems, dealers said.
The gains, in line with other major regional markets, resulted from bargain-hunting as investors shrugged off a Wall Street fall to below 10,000 points overnight, they said.
The TAIEX closed up 75.81 points at 7,243.16 after moving between 7,105.11 and 7,254.68 on turnover of NT$84.83 billion (US$2.63 billion).
A total of 2,235 stocks closed up and 741 down, with 276 unchanged.
Hon Hai rating unchanged
Merrill Lynch said yesterday it was maintaining a “buy” recommendation on Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), the flagship company of Foxconn Technology Group (富士康), despite a string of deaths at a Foxconn complex in China that has hurled the company and its founder into the spotlight.
The Merrill Lynch report said while the suicides and suicide attempts at the group’s Shenzhen factory complex have damaged Hon Hai’s image, there is no sign that its major customers — including Apple, Hewlett-Packard and Dell — would cut their orders with the company anytime soon.
Market consensus expects shipments of Hon Hai Precision-made notebook computers to double to 20 million units next year, while Merrill Lynch predicts shipments will increase to 15 million.
TSMC gets Motech board seats
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, obtained two seats on the board of the nation’s biggest solar cell maker, Motech Industries Inc (茂迪), during a board meeting on Wednesday. TSMC bought a 20 percent stake in Motech earlier this year as it diversifies into the green energy market.
Rick Tsai (蔡力行), president of TSMC’s new business department, and the department’s senior director, Chao Ying-chen (趙應誠), will represent TSMC on the 10-member board of Motech.
Motech’s shareholders also approved a cash dividend of NT$0.9 per share and 10 percent stock dividend based on last year’s net profits of NT$33.19 million, or NT$0.44 per share.
Genesis to open Chinese plant
LED manufacturer Genesis Photonics Inc (新世紀光電) said yesterday that it would set up a US$200 million (NT$64.6 billion) plant in Kunshan in China’s Jiangsu Province, working in conjunction with the Kunshan City government.
A Genesis spokesman said a board meeting had approved the joint venture proposal in which the company would hold a 49 percent stake, while the Kunshan City government would take the remaining 51 percent.
The new plant is scheduled to break ground in the second half of this year and is expected to begin operations on a trial basis in the first quarter of next year, manufacturing LED chips and LED lighting systems, the spokesman said.
Taipower prices bonds
Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) has priced NT$11.6 billion of fixed-rate bonds, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The sale comprises NT$6 billion of 1.83 percent bonds maturing in 2020, NT$3 billion of 1.75 percent bonds maturing in 2017 and NT$2.6 billion of 1.38 percent notes maturing in 2015, the data showed.
NT dollar continues higher
The New Taiwan dollar maintained its momentum against the US dollar yesterday, rising NT$0.158 to close at NT$32.187.
Turnover was US$830 million.
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ENERGY IMPACT: The electricity rate hike is expected to add about NT$4 billion to TSMC’s electricity bill a year and cut its annual earnings per share by about NT$0.154 Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has left its long-term gross margin target unchanged despite the government deciding on Friday to raise electricity rates. One of the heaviest power consuming manufacturers in Taiwan, TSMC said it always respects the government’s energy policy and would continue to operate its fabs by making efforts in energy conservation. The chipmaker said it has left a long-term goal of more than 53 percent in gross margin unchanged. The Ministry of Economic Affairs concluded a power rate evaluation meeting on Friday, announcing electricity tariffs would go up by 11 percent on average to about NT$3.4518 per kilowatt-hour (kWh)
OPENING ADDRESS: The CEO is to give a speech on the future of high-performance computing and artificial intelligence at the trade show’s opening on June 3, TAITRA said Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) chairperson and chief executive officer Lisa Su (蘇姿丰) is to deliver the opening keynote speech at Computex Taipei this year, the event’s organizer said in a statement yesterday. Su is to give a speech on the future of high-performance computing (HPC) in the artificial intelligence (AI) era to open Computex, one of the world’s largest computer and technology trade events, at 9:30am on June 3, the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) said. Su is to explore how AMD and the company’s strategic technology partners are pushing the limits of AI and HPC, from data centers to