Power firm fines reduced
The Fair Trade Commission yesterday reduced its fine on nine independent power producers to NT$6.01 billion (US$200.92 million) from NT$6.05 billion, after the previous fine was revoked by the Cabinet in May for the second time.
The Cabinet had requested that the commission reconsider the fine based on the different cost structures of the nine power producers and their level of compliance.
The nine power producers were fined because they colluded with each other to sabotage price renegotiations with Taiwan Power Co (台灣電力公司) from 2008 through 2012, the commission said.
Cathay gets Laos green light
Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控) said yesterday that its banking arm, Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行), obtained approval from regulators in Laos to open a branch in the capital, Vientiane.
Cathay United Bank is the first Taiwanese bank to get approval from the Laotian central bank to establish a presence in the country.
Separately, the Financial Supervisory Commission on Tuesday approved plans by King’s Town Bank (京城銀行), Taishin International Bank (台新銀行), CTBC Bank (中信銀行), EnTie Commercial Bank (安泰銀行) and Cosmos Bank (萬泰銀行) to set up new branches in Taiwan this year.
Citibank fined NT$4 million
The Financial Supervisory Commission on Tuesday fined Citibank Taiwan NT$4 million for breaching offshore banking operations rules.
The fine came after Citibank embarked on offshore banking practices beyond the commission’s permission and some at variance with authorized operations, the commission said in a statement on its Web site.
The foreign lender failed to protect its clients from information misuse by third-party financial institutions that conducted offshore wealth management for the firm.
UMC posts record revenue
United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 2 contract chipmaker, yesterday said its revenue hit a record level of NT$12.41 billion last month, pushing the company’s revenue for the second quarter to meet its previous forecast of a low-teens percentage sequential growth.
Revenue for the April-to-June quarter was NT$35.87 billion, up 13.19 percent from NT$31.69 billion in the first quarter, the company said in a statement.
Innolux revenue inches higher
Innolux Corp (群創光電), the nation’s biggest LCD panel maker, yesterday said its revenue inched up 0.6 percent month-on-month last month to NT$36.56 billion from May’s NT$36.33 billion.
In the quarter ending June 30, revenue jumped 24 percent to NT$111.06 billion, from NT$89.56 billion in the first quarter.
Shipments of TV and PC panels expanded 18 percent to 37.14 million units last quarter from 31.47 million the previous quarter, while those of medium and small panels grew 11.6 percent to 86.9 million units from 77.89 million units.
Innolux yesterday also said it plans to issue 850 million new common shares at NT$12.5 per share in a bid to raise NT$1.06 billion.
Wistron shipments grow in Q2
Wistron Corp (緯創) on Tuesday posted consolidated revenue last month that rose 12 percent from May, but declined 7.99 percent from the same month last year to NT$49.169 billion.
Consolidated revenue for the second quarter was NT$135.83 billion, up 7.96 percent quarter-on-quarter, with notebook computer shipments increasing 11 percent to 5 million units, smart devices staying flat at 3.3 million units, and shipments of LCD TVs, servers, desktop computers and monitors all rising from the previous quarter.
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