TAIEX closes up 0.24 percent
The TAIEX closed up 18.49 points, or 0.24 percent, at 7,621.72 points yesterday. Turnover totaled NT$76.590 billion (US$2.54 billion) during the trading session.
Among the top performing sectors, electronics shares advanced 0.5 percent and computer and peripherals stocks finished up 1.17 percent, while financial stocks shed 0.63 percent.
Milk powder tariff cut
Minister of Finance Lee Sush-der (李述德) said yesterday the customs tariff committee would discuss a temporary reduction of tariffs for milk powder at its meeting on Monday next week.
Last week, several lawmakers said the ministry should temporarily reduce the customs tariff on infant milk powder to reduce the burden on parents and help increase the nation’s fertility rate.
Taichung to Hanoi route opens
The maiden flight of Mandarin Airlines’ (華信航空) new service between Greater Taichung and Hanoi departed yesterday morning amid hopes direct flights would attract more international visitors to the city.
The flight was the first to depart from Greater Taichung Airport for an international capital, Greater Taichung Deputy Mayor Tsai Ping-kun (蔡炳坤) said at a ceremony.
Many Taichung-based manufacturers have investments in Vietnam, so the new service would provide local businesspeople with a much needed service, Tsai said.
Taishin net income surges
Taishin Financial Holding Co (台新金控) said yesterday it earned NT$800 million in net income last month, surging 77.78 percent from September on improving profitability at its banking arm.
Taishin International Bank (台新銀行) saw its net income gain NT$310 million to NT$710 million last month, as the local bourse -recovered some lost ground, Taishin Financial said.
Cumulative earnings rose to NT$8.3 billion as of last month at Taishin Financial, translating into earnings per share of NT$1.12, the group said.
Oil purchases slid last month
The nation purchased less crude oil last month after industrial output slowed. Shipments declined 1.7 percent from a year earlier to 24.4 million barrels last month, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The nation’s oil bill climbed 38 percent to US$2.62 billion last month, the ministry said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the nation imported 1.3 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas last month for US$1.04 million, according to data from the Directorate-General of Customs.
The amount was 73 percent higher than about 747,000 tonnes bought a year earlier, according to customs data.
Mega Financial profits fall
Mega Financial Holding Co (兆豐金控) yesterday posted NT$1.19 billion in net profits last month, 15.86 percent lower than a month earlier and 6.24 percent year-on-year, as bearish sentiment continued to weaken earnings at its securities brokerage unit, its statement indicated.
Net income totaled NT$15.48 billion for the first 10 months, or earnings per share of NT$1.37, the statement said.
Bank scraps bond sale
Far Eastern International Bank (遠東國際商銀) scrapped a plan to issue as much as US$200 million in five-year overseas convertible bonds because of the European debt crisis and slowdown in the US economy, the lender said in a statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday.
NT dollar falls retreats
The New Taiwan dollar fell against the US dollar yesterday, declining NT$0.083 to close at NT$30.108.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
FUTURE PLANS: Although the electric vehicle market is getting more competitive, Hon Hai would stick to its goal of seizing a 5 percent share globally, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), a major iPhone assembler and supplier of artificial intelligence (AI) servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s chips, yesterday said it has introduced a rotating chief executive structure as part of the company’s efforts to cultivate future leaders and to enhance corporate governance. The 50-year-old contract electronics maker reported sizable revenue of NT$6.16 trillion (US$189.67 billion) last year. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has been under the control of one man almost since its inception. A rotating CEO system is a rarity among Taiwanese businesses. Hon Hai has given leaders of the company’s six