The nation’s listed companies saw their combined sales on a consolidated basis for last month fall slightly from June, but grow steadily compared with a year ago, according to tallies compiled by the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE).
The aggregate sales of 809 listed companies totaled NT$2.327 trillion (US$77.4 billion) last month, down 0.94 percent from the previous month, but up 4.3 percent from a year earlier, the TWSE said in a press release.
Of the total, 514 companies posted annual increases in sales — mainly in the automobiles, semiconductors, oil, gas and electricity-related sectors.
“Rising new vehicle sales last month supported companies in the automobile sector to post higher revenue in the month, while those in the oil, gas and electricity-related industries posted better revenues than in June because of increased production from oil refineries and rising selling prices,” the TWSE said in the release.
Although strong demand for mobile devices continued to push up sales at wafer foundries, chip designers and DRAM companies last month — with several reporting record-high revenues — analysts said the semiconductor sector faces potential client inventory adjustment this quarter.
Meanwhile, 295 listed companies reported sales declines last month compared with a year ago, mainly by firms in the electronics, communications and networking, as well as textile and fabric-linked sectors.
In the first seven months of the year, aggregate sales of all listed companies amounted to NT$15.59 trillion, up 5.21 percent from a year ago, the TWSE said.
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