Taiwan’s 1,285 publicly traded companies earned a total of NT$1.29 trillion (US$42.2 billion) before tax during the first nine months of the year, an increase of 132.06 percent over the same period last year, official figures showed yesterday.
This does not include financial results from two firms — Honyi Precision Industry Co (宏易精密) and Free Power Energy Co (飛寶動能) — which failed to submit their earnings report to the Financial Supervisory Commission before the Nov. 1 deadline.
Of the total, companies listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) contributed NT$1.2 trillion, up 111.8 percent year-on-year, the Financial Supervisory Commission said in a statement.
Semiconductor firms were the biggest contributor in pre-tax earnings during the period, pitching in NT$152.9 billion, it said.
They were followed by companies in the optoelectronics sector with NT$102.4 billion and those in the shipping industry with NT$83.2 billion, it said.
As for companies trading on the over-the-counter GRETAI Securities Market, profits totaled NT$91.8 billion in the first nine months, compared with losses of NT$9.9 billion one year ago, the commission said.
Manufacturers in the semiconductor, optoelectronics and electronic components industries were the three biggest contributors among the GRETAI-traded firms. Semiconductors accounted for NT$64 billion, while optoelectronics and electronic components contributed NT$9.1 billion each.
The commission said that the two GRETAI-traded firms — Honyi, a Linkou (林口), Taipei County-based firm specializing in the design, manufacture and distribution of molds, and Free Power, a textile manufacturer headquartered in Taipei City’s Beitou District (北投) — would face fines and trading suspension for failing to submit their earnings report on time.
They are still required to submit their results within a month’s time, the commission said.
In terms of revenue, the 1,285 publicly traded companies reported total sales of NT$13.62 trillion in the first nine months, up 33.7 percent from the same period last year, the commission’s statistics showed.
TWSE-listed firms saw their revenues grow 33.5 percent year-on-year to NT$12.52 trillion, while GRETAI-traded firms saw sales rise 36.3 percent to NT$1.1 trillion.
Aggregate earnings by the publicly traded companies are expected to rise by 9 to 10 percent next year, following a surge of 85 percent this year, Deutsche Bank said in a client note on Monday.
However, rising capital expenditure at a pace close to the historical peak seen in 2007 and a stronger New Taiwan dollar could pose greater margin risks for these firms next year, the note said.
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