Hua Nan Commercial Bank (華南銀行), the banking subsidiary of state-run Hua Nan Financial Holdings Co (華南金控), yesterday remained mum on a newspaper report that it wants to acquire shares in a Chinese bank.
The Chinese-language Economic Daily News said yesterday that Hua Nan Bank is seeking a 20 percent stake in Fujian Haixia Bank (福建海峽銀行), the largest city-level lender in Fuzhou, in China’s Fujian Province.
The paper said Hua Nan Bank is conducting due diligence review on Fujian Haixia Bank and expects to spend more than NT$10 billion (US$333 million) to secure the 20 percent stake later this year, if doing so proves desirous and feasible.
“Nothing is final yet. The report is purely speculation on the media’s part,” a Hua Nan official, who requested not to be named, said by telephone.
The newspaper said Hua Nan had shortlisted four Chinese banks, including Fujian Haixia Bank, as its potential investment targets. The other three include Bank of Wenzhou (溫州銀行), Bank of Jiaxing (嘉興銀行) and Chongqing Three Gorges Bank (重慶三峽銀行).
In a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday, Hua Nan said: “Plans to invest in Chinese lenders remain in the internal study and planning stages,” and that it will “make a pubic disclosure once a decision is finalized.”
Hua Nan and Fujian Haixia inked a memorandum of understanding in May to spur operation, business and professional exchanges. Hua Nan has also inked agreements with the Bank of China (中國銀行) and the Bank of Communications (交通銀行).
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
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”