Outstanding loans hit high
Outstanding home mortgages hit a new 10-year high of NT$5.725 trillion (US$193 billion) last month, up about NT$24.4 billion or 0.43 percent from April and also up 4.78 percent from a year earlier, the central bank said on Friday.
It was the second consecutive month for home mortgages to grow more than NT$20 billion month-on-month, the central bank said.
Meanwhile, outstanding loans for building construction projects also hit a 10-year high level last month, rising NT$9.97 billion or 0.65 percent from a month earlier to NT$1.554 trillion, the central bank’s data showed.
The figure was also 6.27 percent higher than it was a year earlier.
The bank said the significant increase in home mortgages reflected an increase in the supply of new homes, while the increase in outstanding loans for building construction projects resulted from property developers’ concerns that tighter construction regulations which are scheduled to take effect next year will affect their sales.
Lite-On to enhance efficiency
Optoelectronic parts manufacturer Lite-On Technology Corp (光寶科技) said that the board of its venture capital subsidiary, Lite-On Capital Corp (源泰投資), had decided to reduce its paid-in capital by 19.92 percent to enhance the efficiency of its asset allocation.
In a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange, Lite-On Technology said the capital reduction would lead Lite-On Capital to have a new capitalization of NT$7.21 billion after canceling 179.4 million shares.
The move is part of the Lite-On Group’s (光寶集團) corporate restructuring, as the company is seeking better profitability.
Previously, the board decided to appoint chief executive Warren Chen (陳廣中) as vice chairman and CEO.
Delta Electronics tops Europe
Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) said on Saturday that it ranked as the largest power management system supplier in Europe last year due to the region’s intensive efforts to develop its fourth-generation Long Term Evolution (4G LTE) networks.
The company secured a 23 percent share in the European power management market to become the largest vendor in the region last year, with its power management systems used by the first-tier telecom operators in Europe, such as the UK-based Vodafone, Delta said.
The company posted about US$1.1 billion in revenue in the region last year and expects sales for this year to grow by double digits, with revenue generated from industrial automation products likely to grow 20 to 30 percent year-on-year.
Glass firm Kuangli set to list
Kuangli Photoelectric Technology Co (光麗光電), a cover glass supplier for a wide range of applications, such as digital cameras and smartphones, has filed an application with the stock exchange for a primary listing, the exchange said on Saturday.
The exchange said that Cayman Island-incorporated Kuangli is the fourth overseas registered company to seek a listing on the main board so far this year.
According to its prospectus filed with the exchange , Kuangli, which has paid-in capital of NT$396 million, said it is planning to issue 6.09 million new shares in the listing and will reserve 10 percent of the new shares for its employees.
Kuangli said it has tentatively set the issue price of the new shares at NT$50 and hopes to raise about NT$304 million in funds.
It anticipated that the fundraising activity would be completed in the first quarter of next year.
Taipower raises NT$7billion
State-run Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) said on Friday that it had raised NT$7 billion after the company sold NT$1.5 billion worth of five-year bonds and NT$5.5 billion worth of 10 year bonds.
In a statement posted on the company’s Web site, Taipower said it charged a coupon rate of 1.42 percent on the five-year bonds and 1.98 percent for the 10-year debts.
In April, the company sold three-year bonds at a coupon rate of 1.1 percent, five-year bonds at 1.4 percent, seven-year bonds at 1.75 percent and 10-year bonds at 1.95 percent.
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
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