Waterland Financial drops bid
Waterland Financial Holdings Co (國票金控) said it had dropped a bid for MetLife Inc’s Taiwan business, according to a statement to the stock exchange yesterday. The Financial Supervisory Commission last month rejected the Taipei-based company’s plan to acquire the US life insurer’s local business.
CPC Corp to cut gas prices
State-run oil refiner CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) will cut domestic natural gas prices by 2.98 percent for this month from tomorrow, the company said in a statement on its Web site yesterday.
The company will keep liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) prices unchanged after the damage caused by Typhoon Megi last month, CPC said. LPG, a by-product of crude oil, gas production and oil refining is used for cooking, heating and as motor fuel.
NT dollar hits high
The New Taiwan dollar rose to a two-year high before surrendering most of the gain on suspected intervention by the central bank yesterday.
The monetary authority bought US dollars in late trading, according to two traders who declined to be identified. The currency earlier strengthened as much as 1.1 percent to its highest level since July 2008 after China’s logistics federation said yesterday that the purchasing managers’ index rose to 54.7 last month from 53.8 in September. Readings above 50 indicate expansion.
“Better-than-expected Chinese manufacturing shows there’s demand for Taiwan’s goods as well,” said Wai Ho Leong, a Singapore-based senior regional economist at Barclays Capital Plc.
The NT dollar will lag behind other Asian currencies as “the central bank will smooth the moves,” Leong said.
Central bank issues CDs
The central bank issued NT$309.1 billion (US$10.2 billion) in certificates of deposit (CDs) yesterday, more than the NT$301.7 billion that matured, the bank said in a statement on its Web site yesterday.
The bank sold 30-day CDs at an interest rate of 0.63 percent 91-day at 0.67 percent, and 182-day at 0.77 percent, according to the bank’s statement.
TSMC buys equipment
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest custom manufacturer of chips, bought NT$1.38 billion of equipment from Tokyo Electron Ltd and Dainippon Screen Manufacturing Co.
TSMC purchased NT$860 million of equipment from Tokyo Electron and NT$516 million of gear from Dainippon Screen, the Hsinchu-based company said in two separate statements to the Taipei Stock Exchange yesterday.
Taipei to host ABA meeting
Taipei is set to host the Asian Bankers Association’s (ABA) annual meeting of members representing the regional banking and finance industry today.
Susan Chang (張秀蓮), chairwoman of both the ABA and the Bank of Taiwan (台灣銀行), will introduce the achievements of Taiwan’s financial liberalization at the 27th ABA General Meeting.
According to the ABA secretariat, the general meeting provides a platform for exchanges between banks within the region, giving them an opportunity to increase cooperation in a friendly setting, and has thus helped Taiwan’s banking sector to expand into Asia.
The secretariat said the ABA, founded in Taipei in 1981, is the largest non-governmental banking organization in Asia, with membership currently including more than 100 banks from 27 regional economies.
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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)
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