Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chip maker, is planning to list its solar energy and LED assets on the stock market over the next few years, chairman Morris Chang (張忠謀) said on Saturday.
Chang said TSMC’s solar energy and LED businesses are competitive in the world market in terms of technology and cost control.
TSMC Solar Ltd (台積太陽能) and TSMC Solid State Lighting Ltd (台積固態照明), led by Rick Tsai (蔡力行), will continue to grow and expand their economies of scale next year, Chang said.
TSMC also owns a 20 percent stake in Taiwan-based crystalline silicon solar cell supplier Motech Industries Inc (茂迪).
Chang also said TSMC will give salary raises in April, as scheduled, and the company will not make any layoffs or force its employees to take unpaid leave.
He said that the company’s bonuses for its employees in the second quarter were up more than 20 percent from a year earlier and said employees will be given good bonuses in the third quarter, as TSMC’s net profit and consolidated sales hit record-high levels on the back of solid demand for mobile communications devices.
In the third quarter, TSMC posted NT$51.95 billion (US$1.77 billion) in net profit, up 0.3 percent from the second quarter, with an earnings per share of NT$2, while consolidated sales rose to NT$162.58 billion, a 4.3 percent increase from a quarter earlier.
The slow season this quarter and client inventory adjustments are expected to cause the company’s sales for the fourth quarter to fall 9.6 percent to 11.4 percent from the third quarter to range between NT$144 billion and NT$147 billion, TSMC said.
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