REAL ESTATE
Yuanta wins auction
Yuanta Life Insurance Co (元大人壽保險), the life insurance arm of Yuanta Financial Holding Co (元大金控), on Thursday beat nine other bidders to win an auction for two state-owned land plots in Taipei with generous premiums. The insurer won the bid for two land plots measuring a total of 290 ping (959m2) located on Nanjing E Road, Sec 2, for NT$2.91 billion (US$92.75 million), or 39.8 percent higher than the floor price, analysts said. The offer translates into NT$10.04 million per ping, a value surpassed only by the NT$10.68 million per ping paid by CTBC Life Insurance Co (中國信託人壽) in 2012 for land it acquired near Taipei’s Ximen MRT station (西門站), analysts said.
EYE CARE
Ginko to pay NT$6.6 dividend
Ginko International Co (金可國際), a leading maker of contact lenses and lens-care solutions, yesterday approved a proposal to distribute a cash dividend of NT$6.6 per share based on last year’s earnings, which were 1.88 percent higher than the previous year’s earnings, thanks to strong e-commerce sales in the Chinese market. Last year, the company reported net income of NT$1.45 billion (US$46.42 million), or NT$15.64 per share, while revenue rose 18.52 percent year-on-year to NT$5.78 billion, according to the company’s financial statement.
CHEMICALS
Namchow Chemical surges
Namchow Chemical Industrial Co (南僑化工) shares have risen 19.35 percent so far this year, as the company benefits from continuing capacity expansion, lower raw material prices and increasing demand in China, SinoPac Securities Investment Service Corp (永豐投顧) said. The brokerage on Thursday raised its price target on the stock to NT$72 from NT$67, expecting Namchow’s earnings per share to reach NT$3.7 this year from NT$3.3 last year. Shares closed at NT$66 yesterday. Revenue is forecast to grow 10.4 percent year-on-year to NT$16.35 billion (US$52.11 million) this year, with net income of NT$1.09 billion, SinoPac said.
STEELMAKERS
China Steel profit soars
China Steel Corp (CSC, 中鋼) yesterday said its net profit last year surged 38.7 percent year-on-year, allowing the company to propose a bigger dividend payout this year than last year. The nation’s largest steelmaker said in a statement that its board had approved a plan to distribute a cash dividend of NT$1.4 per preferred share based on last year’s earnings of NT$22.16 billion (US$70.62 million), or NT$1.43 per share. The company also proposes to pay NT$1 per share in cash for its common shareholders. The Kaohsiung-based company reported revenue of NT$366.52 billion last year, compared with NT$347.83 billion in 2013.
SEMICONDUCTORS
Winbond personnel changes
Memorychip maker Winbond Electronics Corp (華邦電子) yesterday said Jessica Huang (黃求己) would be appointed vice president and chief financial officer, replacing James Wen (溫堅) who is to retire at the end of this month. The personnel change is to take effect on Wednesday next week, Winbond said in a statement.
FOODSTUFFS
Wei Chuan names new CEO
Wei Chuan Food Corp (味全食品) yesterday said its board approved the appointment of former president Michael Su (蘇守斌) as new chief executive officer and the retirement of president Chang Chiao-hua (張教華). Su was Wei Chuan president between 2002 and 2009.
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],”