Shinkong Synthetic Fibers Corp (新光合成纖維), which makes polyester fibers and plastics, said yesterday that its profit would rise by more than 10 percent this year on the back of income from selling assets and rising market demand.
The company booked NT$133.66 million (US$4.46 million) in income from selling a plot of land in Taipei in February. As a result, its profit last quarter doubled from NT$195.51 million, or NT$0.11 per share, a year ago to NT$596.99 million, or NT$0.35 per share, according to a company filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
INSURANCE
Shinkong Synthetic is also expected to receive an insurance payment of about NT$300 million this year in relation to a factory that burned down in 2012, chairman Eric Wu (吳東昇) said yesterday after the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting.
Shinkong Synthetic plans to sell another property in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山區), if it can find a buyer willing to pay about NT$2.9 billion, Wu said.
Wu said market sentiment for its core businesses in the first half of this year is higher than it was a year ago, and that the factory utilization rate has been at 100 percent since March, higher than last year’s 79.03 percent.
CAPITAL INVESTMENTS
The company plans to spend NT$3 billion to double the capacity of its TacBright Optronics Corp (達輝光電) subsidiary, which makes triacetate cellulose film, with construction expected to be completed in the first quarter next year, Wu said.
The company expects to spend NT$3 billion to build a new production line for Shinkong Materials Technology Co (新科光電), another subsidiary which makes polyester films, Wu said, adding that the company plans to build another new production line for the subsidiary costing the same amount in the next two years.
Wu said Shinkong Synthetic is to double the capacity of a joint venture with Invista Inc this year, without disclosing the size of the investment.
DIVIDEND
Meanwhile, shareholders yesterday approved the company’s plan to distribute a NT$0.35 cash dividend this year, a payout ratio of 53.85 percent.
Last year, the company reported a profit of NT$1.15 billion, or earnings per share (EPS) of NT$0.65, up 22 percent from NT$665.93 million, or EPS of NT$0.38, the previous year, according to its filing.
RETIREMENT
Asked whether he plans to retire in the near future, Wu, who is 61, said he would consider retiring only after he raises the company’s share price above NT$20.
To many, Tatu City on the outskirts of Nairobi looks like a success. The first city entirely built by a private company to be operational in east Africa, with about 25,000 people living and working there, it accounts for about two-thirds of all foreign investment in Kenya. Its low-tax status has attracted more than 100 businesses including Heineken, coffee brand Dormans, and the biggest call-center and cold-chain transport firms in the region. However, to some local politicians, Tatu City has looked more like a target for extortion. A parade of governors have demanded land worth millions of dollars in exchange
An Indonesian animated movie is smashing regional box office records and could be set for wider success as it prepares to open beyond the Southeast Asian archipelago’s silver screens. Jumbo — a film based on the adventures of main character, Don, a large orphaned Indonesian boy facing bullying at school — last month became the highest-grossing Southeast Asian animated film, raking in more than US$8 million. Released at the end of March to coincide with the Eid holidays after the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, the movie has hit 8 million ticket sales, the third-highest in Indonesian cinema history, Film
BIG BUCKS: Chairman Wei is expected to receive NT$34.12 million on a proposed NT$5 cash dividend plan, while the National Development Fund would get NT$8.27 billion Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday announced that its board of directors approved US$15.25 billion in capital appropriations for long-term expansion to meet growing demand. The funds are to be used for installing advanced technology and packaging capacity, expanding mature and specialty technology, and constructing fabs with facility systems, TSMC said in a statement. The board also approved a proposal to distribute a NT$5 cash dividend per share, based on first-quarter earnings per share of NT$13.94, it said. That surpasses the NT$4.50 dividend for the fourth quarter of last year. TSMC has said that while it is eager
‘IMMENSE SWAY’: The top 50 companies, based on market cap, shape everything from technology to consumer trends, advisory firm Visual Capitalist said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) was ranked the 10th-most valuable company globally this year, market information advisory firm Visual Capitalist said. TSMC sat on a market cap of about US$915 billion as of Monday last week, making it the 10th-most valuable company in the world and No. 1 in Asia, the publisher said in its “50 Most Valuable Companies in the World” list. Visual Capitalist described TSMC as the world’s largest dedicated semiconductor foundry operator that rolls out chips for major tech names such as US consumer electronics brand Apple Inc, and artificial intelligence (AI) chip designers Nvidia Corp and Advanced
RSS