MEDICAL DEVICES
AmCad debuts, rises 5.13%
AmCad BioMed Corp (安克生醫) shares yesterday rose 5.13 percent on its debut on the local over-the-counter market. Shares at one point climbed to NT$41.4 — an 8.95 percent rise from the listing price of NT$38 — in the morning session, with the stock closing at NT$39.95 yesterday on the Taipei Exchange (TPEx, 櫃檯買賣中心). AmCad, a subsidiary of Maywufa Bio-Pharmaceutical Group (美吾華集團), is a computer-aided design (CAD) software developer for high-end medical devices and has a paid-in capital of NT$408 million (US$13 million).
LEASING SERVICES
Chailease net income climbs
Chailease Holding Co (中租控股), the nation’s top leasing services provider, reported net income of NT$510 million last month, up 19 percent year-on-year, thanks to cost control and asset expansion, it said yesterday in a statement. On a monthly basis, net income declined 13 percent because of fewer working days, with cumulative earnings for the first two months of the year totaling NT$1.09 billion, or NT$0.99 per share. The firm last year posted net profit of NT$1.09 billion (US$34.73 million), or NT$0.99 per share, up 13 percent from a year earlier.
MACHINERY
Kao Fong to pay dividend
Kao Fong Machinery Co (高鋒), a leading designer and assembler of machining centers, yesterday said its board agreed to pay a NT$1.2 cash dividend to shareholders on record-high earnings of NT$169 million for last year, or NT$1.76 earnings per share. That represents a payout ratio of 68.18 percent. The plan is subject to shareholders’ approval at an annual general meeting on June 12. Kao Fong’s revenues totaled NT$2.095 billion last year, up 3.7 percent from 2013. With order visibility for the company’s products extending to May, analysts expect Kao Fong’s revenue for this year to rise above NT$25 billion.
SOLAR ENERGY
SAS to pay dividend
Solar wafer maker Sino-American Silicon Products Inc (SAS, 中美晶) yesterday said its board plans to distribute a cash dividend of NT$1.8 per share, after net income surged 282 percent year-on-year to NT$1.13 billion last year, or NT$2.06 per share. Yuanta Investment Consulting Co (元大投顧) yesterday said the company would report strong revenue growth this year from last year’s NT$27.82 billion with better profitability, citing SAS’ expansion plan and diversified product portfolio. The brokerage gave the stock a “buy” rating with a target price of NT$65. Shares closed 0.4 percent lower at NT$49.8 yesterday.
ELECTRONICS
Sharp news hits Hon Hai
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) shares fell 0.21 percent to NT$93.30 in Taipei trading yesterday, as investors digested news about its intention to participate in Sharp Corp management. In an interview published in the Japanese weekly Toyo Keizai on Friday last week, Hon Hai chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘) said his firm is ready to support Sharp financially, but the support is contingent on being able to join the Japanese company’s management. A plan in 2012 to buy a 9.9 percent stake in Sharp for ¥66.9 billion (US$560.6 million at current exchange rates) fell apart in 2013 after weak earnings reports sent Sharp shares into a tailspin alongside the Japanese company’s refusal of Gou’s request to have a say in the company’s management.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last