TAIEX breaks 7,900 barrier
The TAIEX closed above 7,900 for the first time in nearly two weeks yesterday, even though turnover was the lowest for any session this month.
The weighted index closed up 51.73 points, or 0.66 percent, at 7,918.61. Turnover totaled NT$56.94 billion (US$1.90 billion).
Hannstar back in the black
Local LCD panel maker HannStar Display Corp (瀚宇彩晶) yesterday posted net profits of NT$171 million, or earnings per share of NT$0.06, for the fourth quarter of last year on improving gross margin.
That made HannStar the first local flat-panel maker to post quarterly net profits amid an industry slump over the past two years.
HannStar lost NT$328 million in the third quarter and NT$1.84 billion in the fourth quarter of 2011.
Gross margin jumped to 26 percent last quarter, compared with 14 percent in the third quarter of last year and 3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011.
The average selling price dropped to US$57 last quarter, from US$60 the previous quarter, while shipments fell 4.5 percent quarter-on-quarter to 5.14 million units, the company said.
Operating margin also rose to 14 percent last quarter, from 5 percent in the prior quarter and minus-8 percent the previous year.
Futures tax to be cut on Monday
The Ministry of Finance announced yesterday that the futures transaction tax would be cut by 50 percent to 0.00002 percent from 0.00004 percent from Monday next week to the end of 2015.
The cut is expected to create 400 to 500 job opportunities, with potential tax losses from the cut expected to be recovered after two years, the ministry said.
Green Energy stays in the red
Green Energy Technology Inc (綠能科技), the nation’s biggest solar wafer maker, said on Thursday that its quarterly losses widened to NT$1.03 billion last quarter, from a loss of NT$779 million in the third quarter of last year.
The company blamed consistently falling solar wafer prices for the loss.
For the whole of last year, Green Energy lost NT$3.57 billion, compared with a loss of NT$2.33 billion the previous year.
The company is scheduled to hold an annual shareholders’ meeting on June 25 to seek approval of its annual financial statement.
Debt crisis hits Taiwan Takisawa
Taiwan Takisawa Technology Co Ltd (瀧澤科), one of the nation’s largest designers and assemblers of computerized numerical control lathes and machining centers, posted NT$131.44 million in net profits for last year, down 11.38 percent from NT$148.32 million the previous year, according to a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Earnings per share fell to NT$1.85 last year, from NT$2.29 the previous year, according to the filing.
The company attributed the decline to the global economic slowdown, primarily the debt crisis in Europe, along with growing competition from its Chinese rivals.
NT dollar ends week higher
The New Taiwan dollar closed up 0.4 percent, or NT$0.065, at NT$29.875 against its US counterpart yesterday.
That saw the local currency rise 0.1 percent during the five-day trading period. Turnover was US$517 million.
The central bank has sold the local currency just before the close of trading on most days in the past year, traders who asked not to be identified 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