TAIEX closes down
Taiwanese stocks recovered some of their earlier losses in late trade on active bargain hunting yesterday, pushing the TAIEX back above the 9,000 point mark by the close of trade, dealers said.
The TAIEX closed down 32.90 points, or 0.36 percent, at 9,007.87, after moving between 8,943.99 and 9,058.78, on turnover of NT$145.29 (US$5.05 billion).
The textile and construction sectors encountered the heaviest pressure, finishing down 1.1 percent.
Synex income rises 12%
Synnex Technology International Corp (聯強國際), a consumer electronics distributor, saw net income rise 12 percent year-on-year in the first quarter on rising demand for high-tech products, the company said yesterday.
During the January-to-March period, Synnex’s net income was NT$1.4 billion (US$49 million) and earnings per share NT$0.91 on sales that rose 20 percent from a year earlier to NT$74.4 billion.
Sales of information products totaled NT$38.8 billion in the first quarter, which was up 5 percent from a year earlier and accounted for 52 percent of the company’s total revenue, Synnex said.
Sales of communications products rose 41 percent year-on-year to NT$15 billion, accounting for 20 percent of Synnex’s first-quarter revenue, the company said.
China Steel’s profits fall 40%
China Steel Corp (中鋼), the nation’s biggest maker of the metal, reported a 40 percent decline in first-quarter profit as it failed to pass on increased costs.
Net income fell to NT$6.68 billion, or NT$0.50 per share, from NT$11.1 billion, or NT$0.83, a year earlier, the company said in a statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange Friday.
The figure beat the NT$5.84 billion average of four analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
Sales in the January-to-March period climbed 6.1 percent from a year earlier to NT$56.5 billion.
CAL’s Q1 profits down
China Airlines Ltd (CAL, 中華航空) reported first-quarter loss of NT$379 million, or NT$0.08 per share, compared with a profit NT$2.56 billion, or NT$0.55, a year earlier, the company said in a statement to the stock exchange yesterday.
EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) on Wednesday reported first-quarter net income of NT$269 million, or NT$0.09 per share. It made a profit of NT$1.25 billion, or NT$0.42, a year earlier.
Dividend plan approved
Fubon Financial Holding Co’s (富邦金控) board yesterday approved a plan to pay a cash dividend of NT$1 per share and a 5 percent stock dividend on last year’s earnings, the company said in a statement to the stock exchange.
Fubon Financial’s audited net income was NT$19.91 billion for last year, down from an unaudited NT$23.45 billion mainly because of an exchange rate restatement that led to a downward revision of NT$2.24 billion, the firm said in a separate statement.
Meanwhile, Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控) said its board approved a plan to pay a cash dividend of NT$0.6 per share and 2 percent of stock dividend last year’s earnings, according to its filing to the stock exchange yesterday.
Cathay United Bank Co (國泰世華銀行), a banking unit of Cathay Financial, said it had gained approval from its board to sign cooperation agreements with Agricultural Bank of China Ltd (中國農業銀行), Bank of China Ltd (中國銀行), and Bank of Communications Co (交通銀行).
NT dollar dips
The New Taiwan dollar fell against the US dollar yesterday, down NT$0.002 to close at NT$28.762 after the central bank intervened in late trading, dealers said. Turnover totaled US$1.27 billion during the trading session.
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