SEMICONDUCTORS
TSMC shares fall 3.64%
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) shares fell 3.64 percent yesterday, after its American depositary receipts dropped 5.39 percent overnight in New York. TSMC’s shares also came under pressure after Maybank Kim Eng Securities Ltd lowered its price target on the stock, saying the company faces deteriorating fundamentals. Maybank said in a note that TSMC might revise downward its guidance for this year, as the company faces softer end-demand in China, while a rapid fall in foreign exchange in emerging markets has resulted in customers cutting back in orders, coupled with high inventory in smartphone supply chain. The Malaysian brokerage cut its price target on TSMC shares to NT$102 from NT$120. The shares yesterday closed at NT$145.5 in Taipei trading.
PHARMACEUTICALS
TTY fallout ‘limited’
Drugmaker TTY Biopharm Co (台灣東洋藥品) chairman Clark Hsiao (蕭英鈞) yesterday said alleged embezzlement involving former chairman Lin Rong-jin (林榮錦) would have only a limited impact on business this year. The remarks came after TTY reported net income of NT$779 million (US$24.8 million) for last year, up 33 percent from NT$587 million in 2013, with earnings per share of NT$3.13, the highest in its history. Revenue declined to NT$2.98 billion from NT$3.11 billion, with a gross margin of 59 percent. TTY attributed the increased profit to cost-saving effort, rising orders from customers and contribution from its reinvestments. Lin said the company is upbeat about this year’s outlook, with up to six products in its pipeline ready to hit the local market.
GAMES
XPEC income rises 421.8%
Game developer XPEC Entertainment Inc (樂陞科技) yesterday said net income grew 421.8 percent to NT$282 million last year, thanks to contributions from its art production business and its merger with Tiny Piece Co. Revenue increased 40.87 percent year-on-year to NT$950 million. With earnings per share of NT$3.55 for last year, XPEC’s board plans to distribute a cash dividend of NT$0.3 per share and a stock dividend of 43 percent to shareholders, according to a statement. The cash dividend translates into a cash dividend yield of 8.45 percent.
AUTO SUPPLIES
Hota net profit up 63.47%
Hota Industrial Manufacturing Co (和大工業), which makes gears and shafts for automobiles, yesterday said it made a 63.47 percent gain in net profit last year on the back of rising orders of high-margin products, expanding business scale and increased automation. Net profit was NT$712 million last year, with earnings per share of NT$3.06, Hota said in a statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange. Revenue grew 13.8 percent year-on-year to NT$4.24 billion last year. Hota plans to pay a cash dividend of NT$2.1 per share, which represents a 68.63 payout ratio.
AVIATION
EVA plans leasing deal
EVA Airways Corp (EVA, 長榮航空) yesterday announced it plans to introduce two Airbus 330-300 aircraft by selling them to Pembroke Capital Ltd — an aircraft-leasing company in Ireland — or its affiliates and leasing them back for operation. The transaction totaled less than US$500 million according to a stock exchange filing. The airline is also scheduled to take delivery of six A321-200 and four Boeing 777-300ER aircraft later this year.
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
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
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