TECHNOLOGY
AUO passes dividend plan
AU Optronics Corp’s (AUO, 友達光電) board yesterday approved plans to distribute a cash dividend of NT$0.5 per share based on last year’s net profit of NT$18.07 billion (US$572.16 million), or NT$1.82 per share. That translates into a payout ratio of 55 percent. The board also gave the go-ahead to a fundraising plan to sell up to 950 common shares in the form of depositary receipts or corporate bonds. The company might raise the funds on the open market or via private placement, the flat-panel maker said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange. It plans to use the proceeds to invest in advanced equipment and high-end technology, or improve its financial structure.
ELECTRONICS
Synnex earnings fall
Synnex Technology International Corp (聯強), Asia’s largest distributor of information technology products and electronics components, yesterday said its net profit fell 4.72 percent to NT$5.02 billion last year from 2013. Earnings per share (EPS) for last year dropped to a five-year low of NT$3.16. Consolidated revenue edged up 0.39 percent year-on-year to NT$331.53 billion. On a positive note, gross margin improved to 3.48 percent last year from 3.35 percent in 2013, and operating margin also moved up to 1.34 percent from 1.17 percent, which the firm attributed to continuous cost reduction and better business operating efficiency, a company statement said.
TECHNOLOGY
Chipbond shares surge
Chipbond Technology Corp (頎邦科技) shares yesterday surged 4.58 percent, buoyed by investors’ expectations that its earnings would continue to grow this year after hitting a record NT$2.55 billion last year, or NT$3.95 per share. UBS Securities Ltd forecast that the nation’s largest LCD driver-chip packaging and testing firm would see earnings grow 22 percent this year from last year on the back of an annual 9 percent increase in revenue, citing Chipbond’s continued margin expansion amid improving operations and a favorable pricing environment.
MANUFACTURING
KMC plans acquisition
Bicycle-chain maker KMC Kuei Meng International Inc (桂盟國際) on Monday said it plans to spend about NT$2.95 billion to fully acquire China-based KMC Chain (Tianjin) Co (桂盟鏈條深圳) to boost its revenue and profit. The acquisition is part of the company’s plan to integrate some China-based firms owned by chairman Wu Ying-jin’s (吳盈進) family. Last year, the company spent about 165 million yuan (US$26.38 million) to fully acquire KMC Transmission (Tianjin) Co (天津桂盟). The company’s board also approved plans to distribute a cash dividend of NT$1.5 per share, based on last year’s earnings of NT$432 million, or NT$4.31 per share, with a payout ratio of 34.8 percent.
COSMETICS
Yuanta cuts Chlitina forecast
Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co (元大投顧) has revised down its profit forecast for Chlitina Holding Ltd (麗豐), an own-brand cosmetics firm in China, saying it could miss its earnings guidance because of higher advertising costs to attract consumers. Chlitina on Monday reported that net profit rose 9.03 percent year-on-year to NT$755.84 million, or EPS of NT$9.51, last year, and revenue increased 13.7 percent to NT$3.07 billion. However, Yuanta lowered its EPS estimate for Chlitina from NT$10.72 to NT$9.31 for this year, saying the firm’s operating expense might rise by about 20 percent. Chlitina has 3,413 stores in China.
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
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”