Wan Hai Lines Ltd (萬海航運) was the only listed container shipping company in Taiwan to post a net profit in the first quarter of this year on the back of its focus on regional routes in Asia, which showed steady growth in trade volume.
Wan Hai, the nation’s third-largest container shipping company in terms of fleet size, outperformed the sector by posting a net profit of NT$124.89 million (US$4.15 million), or NT$0.05 per share, in the first three months of the year, the company said in a filing to the stock exchange.
The first-quarter results were an improvement from a net loss of NT$393.06 million, or NT$0.18 per share, in the same period last year, statistics showed.
The company’s focus on the Asian market and shorter intra-regional routes were key factors in helping it maintain profitability in the first quarter, as trading momentum in the region was relatively stable compared with the US and Europe.
In addition, freight rates for intra-regional routes in Asia showed less volatility than long-haul routes.
The nation’s two other major shipping companies — both of which rely more on long-haul lines — recorded a loss in the first quarter.
Evergreen Marine Corp (長榮海運), the nation’s largest container shipping firm, reported consolidated losses of NT$1.84 billion in the first three months, or a loss of NT$0.53 per share, which represented an improvement from a net loss of NT$3.14 billion, or losses per share of NT$0.9, reported a year earlier, the company’s stock exchange filing data showed.
Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp (陽明海運), the nation’s second-biggest container shipper, also saw net losses of NT$2.68 billion, or N$0.82 per share, in the first three months, compared with a net loss of NT$4.97 billion, or NT$1.76 per share, the previous year.
Yang Ming chairman Frank Lu (盧峰海) said last month that the January-to-March period would be the low point for its business this year.
“We hope to make progress in terms of profitability this year from last year,” Lu told a media briefing, expressing optimism about both US and Asian routes this year.
However, Capital Securities Corp (群益證券) said that oversupply remains a major downside risk for the sector this year.
“Oversupply pressure may increase uncertainty about plans to raise freight rates in the coming month, the typical peak period for the sector,” the brokerage said in a research note.
WASHINGTON’S INCENTIVES: The CHIPS Act set aside US$39 billion in direct grants to persuade the world’s top semiconductor companies to make chips on US soil The US plans to award more than US$6 billion to Samsung Electronics Co, helping the chipmaker expand beyond a project in Texas it has already announced, people familiar with the matter said. The money from the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act would be one of several major awards that the US Department of Commerce is expected to announce in the coming weeks, including a grant of more than US$5 billion to Samsung’s rival, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), people familiar with the plans said. The people spoke on condition of anonymity in advance of the official announcements. The federal funding for
HIGH DEMAND: The firm has strong capabilities of providing key components including liquid cooling technology needed for AI servers, chairman Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday revised its revenue outlook for this year to “significant” growth from a “neutral” view forecast five months ago, due to strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers from cloud service providers. Hon Hai, a major assembler of iPhones that is also known as Foxconn, expects AI server revenues to soar more than 40 percent annually this year, chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) told investors. The robust growth would uplift revenue contribution from AI servers to 40 percent of the company’s overall server revenue this year, from 30 percent last year, Liu said. In the three-year period
LONG HAUL: Largan Energy Materials’ TNO-based lithium-ion batteries are expected to charge in five minutes and last about 20 years, far surpassing conventional technology Largan Precision Co (大立光) has formed a joint venture with the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI, 工研院) to produce fast-charging, long-life lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles, mobile electronics and electric storage units, the camera lens supplier for Apple Inc’s iPhones said yesterday. Largan Energy Materials Co (萬溢能源材料), established in January, is developing high-energy, fast-charging, long-life lithium-ion batteries using titanium niobium oxide (TNO) anodes, it said. TNO-based batteries can be fully charged in five minutes and have a lifespan of 20 years, a major advantage over the two to four hours of charging time needed for conventional graphite-anode-based batteries, Largan said in a
Taiwan is one of the first countries to benefit from the artificial intelligence (AI) boom, but because that is largely down to a single company it also represents a risk, former Google Taiwan managing director Chien Lee-feng (簡立峰) said at an AI forum in Taipei yesterday. Speaking at the forum on how generative AI can generate possibilities for all walks of life, Chien said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) — currently among the world’s 10 most-valuable companies due to continued optimism about AI — ensures Taiwan is one of the economies to benefit most from AI. “This is because AI is