Corporate earnings limit TAIEX
The TAIEX fell for the third straight trading day yesterday, amid rising concerns over corporate earnings after PC vendor Acer Inc (宏碁) reported disappointing third-quarter results, dealers said.
Worries over sluggish global demand also drove many investors to the sidelines and kept daily turnover low, causing the broader market to move in a narrow range during the trading session, they said.
Acer shares fell 3.53 percent to close at NT$26 after the company reported a worse-than-expected earnings per share of NT$0.03 for the third quarter, while its operating margin fell to 0.3 percent from 0.4 percent in the second quarter.
The weighted index closed down 35.56 points, or 0.48 percent, at 7,337.48, on turnover of NT$45.87 billion (US$1.57 billion).
“Acer’s earnings did dampen investor sentiment,” Hua Nan Securities (華南永昌證券) analyst Henry Miao (苗台生) said. “With the earnings reporting season just kicking off, many investors were afraid that more negative earnings news would come out.”
USITC rules against ITRI
The US International Trade Commission (USITC) has ruled that South Korea-based LG Electronics Inc did not infringe an LCD patent owned by a Taiwanese research institute, according to a Bloomberg report on Monday.
The state-funded Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI, 工研院) had accused LG of violating a patent covering “backlight modules that improve uniformity of light so they have correct brightness,” the report said.
In response, ITRI said the notice was only an initial finding and the case is still being tried, vowing to safeguard its patent rights.
CatchPlay wins injunction
Taiwanese film distributor CatchPlay Inc (威望國際) said on Monday that it has been granted a preliminary injunction in a licensing dispute against film buyer Studio Solutions Group Inc (SSG), allowing it to continue offering movies in Taiwan.
On Oct. 11 a California federal court ordered that SSG, a California company acting as CatchPlay’s agent, could not terminate any of Catchplay’s rights to distribute its roughly 950 works in Taiwan, CatchPlay executive director Daphne Yang (楊麗貞) said at a press conference in Taipei.
FSC lowers insurance rates
The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) yesterday lowered assumed interest rates by up to 1 percent on first-year life insurance premiums to reflect the tougher business environment.
The downward adjustments, set to take effect on Jan. 1, mean life insurers will have to set aside more life insurance reserves and thus raise insurance policy costs to maintain financial health and profitability, the commission said.
It cut assumed rates on US dollar-based insurance policies by 75 to 100 basis points, euro-denominated policies by 50 to 75 basis points and Australian currency-linked policies by 25 to 75 basis points.
Ting Hsin hires Steven Lee
McDonalds’ executive Steven Lee (李明元), has been hired away by the Ting Hsin International Group (頂新集團) a Taiwanese-owned food conglomerate with a huge presence in China.
Ting Hsin, which will make Lee vice president of its chain restaurant group, is hoping he can improve the competitiveness of its chain franchises and help them tap into China’s food and beverage market more quickly, the company said on Monday.
NT dollar loses ground
The New Taiwan dollar fell against the US dollar yesterday, declining NT$0.008 to close at NT$29.328.
Turnover totaled about US$545 million during the trading session.
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