Market rebounds, but jittery
The TAIEX rebounded yesterday from the heavy losses seen a session earlier caused by fears that the government will impose a capital gain tax on securities transactions, dealers said.
However, uncertainty over the likely tax is expected to continue to keep the market jittery until the financial authorities determine whether the tax will be collected and how it is to be levied, they said.
The weighted index closed up 60.34 points, or 0.77 percent, at 7,933 on turnover of NT$99.02 billion (US$3.35 billion).
Chi Mei’s losses widen
Chi Mei Innolux Corp (奇美電子), the nation’s top LCD panel maker, yesterday posted losses of NT$64.44 billion for last year, widening from a loss of NT$14.84 billion in 2010.
The loss exceeded Credit Suisse’s estimate of NT$62.66 billion and was bigger that the loss of NT$59.8 billion predicted by most analysts, according to Credit Suisse’s report released on Wednesday.
Gross margin plunged to minus-6.9 percent last year, from 4.38 percent in 2010.
Credit Suiss rated Chi Mei Innolux “neutral.”
Revenues grew 3.5 percent to NT$510.08 billion last year from NT$493 billion the previous year.
Compal posts lower profits
Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶電腦), the world’s second-largest contract maker of laptops, yesterday posted NT$11.02 billion (US$37.32 million) in net profit for last year, down 53 percent from 2010.
That translated to earnings per share of NT$2.53, the company said in a statement.
In terms of its fourth-quarter results, net profit was NT$2.3 billion, an increase of 8 percent from the third quarter, the statement said, adding that gross margin dropped to 4.6 percent, from 5 percent.
Young Fast profits plunge
Local touch panel maker Young Fast Optical Inc (洋華光電) yesterday posted net profits of NT$420 million for last yar, down 84 percent from 2010.
Revenue dropped 5 percent to NT$15.62 billion last year.
THSRC finally in the black
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THSRC, 台灣高鐵) yesterday reported a net profit of NT$5.78 billion (US$195.73 million), or earnings per share of NT$0.59, for last year, the first time it has posted a profit in its five years in operation, company statistics showed.
THSRC spokesman Ted Chia (賈先德) attributed the profitability to rising operating revenue driven by stronger passenger demand and new accounting rules.
The number of passengers rose to 4.16 million last year, from the 3.69 million recorded a year earlier, company data showed.
However, the company maintained a cautious outlook on its operation due to a large amount of costs in the near future, including building three new stations, purchasing new cabins and the depreciation of equipment, Chia said.
HannStar president resigns
Local LCD panel maker HannStar Display Corp (瀚宇彩晶) yesterday said president Joe Chou (周定輝) had resigned, according to a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Chief executive Chiao Hu-chi (焦佑麒) will double as the company’s president, it said.
NT dollar bounces back
The New Taiwan dollar appreciated against the greenback yesterday, closing up NT$0.052 at NT$29.530 as the local currency rose in line with its counterparts in the rest of the region, dealers said.
A recovery in the stock market also lent more support to the NT dollar as demand increased, prompting local traders to sell US dollars, dealers said.
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