FINANCE
FSC to penalize Hontai
The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) has decided to punish Hontai Life Insurance Co (宏泰人壽) for failing to meet the regulatory 200 percent capital adequacy ratio as well as for its lack of feasible plans to improve its financial structure. The commission said in a statement that the life insurer would be banned from opening new branches in Taiwan and would be subject to more severe punishment unless it implements an appropriate recapitalization plan by the end of this year.
TRADING
Taiwan’s ranking unchanged
The nation’s ranking remained unchanged in 20th position among the top-30 merchandise exporters worldwide last year, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said on Wednesday, citing the WTO’s latest report. The nation’s ranking for merchandise importers also stayed unchanged in 18th place among the other nations last year, the ministry said in a statement. Citing the WTO’s report, the ministry said that China continued to hold the top position for both importing and exporting global merchandise last year.
PHARMACEUTICALS
TWi waiting for license
TWi Pharmaceuticals Inc (安成), a developer of specialty generic drugs, yesterday said it is still waiting for a new drug license for its generic version of Dexilant, Lidoderm, for the relief of pain associated with post-herpetic neuralgia. Analysts said the company would remain in the red this year if the sale of Lidoderm in the US market is to be postponed until next year. TWi reported a net loss of NT$904 million (US$28.9 million) for last year. However, TWi Pharmaceuticals said a generic version of Shire LLC’s Intuniv drug for the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is on track to hit the market next month or in June. The company also plans to launch the generic megestrol acetate for Par Pharmaceutical Inc’s Megace ES, used to treat anorexia or weight loss in AIDS patients, in the third quarter of this year, chief executive officer Tina Guilder said at an investors’ conference.
SEMICONDUCTORS
TSMC tops R&D expenditure
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) topped the nation’s publicly listed manufacturers in terms of research and development (R&D) investment last year, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said on Wednesday. TSMC spent NT$56.8 billion in R&D last year, up 18.1 percent from 2013. It was followed by Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), which spent NT$48.9 billion, the ministry said. MediaTek Inc (聯發科) came in third, spending NT$43.3 billion, up 63.8 percent year-on-year. Meanwhile, United Microelectronics Corp (聯電) invested NT$13.7 billion, making it the fourth-largest, while Wistron Corp (緯創) placed fifth, spending NT$13.4 billion.
AUTOMOBILES
Tong Yang earnings rise
Automobile parts maker Tong Yang Industry Co (東陽實業) on Wednesday reported pretax earnings of NT$501 million last quarter, up 4 percent year-on-year, with NT$0.81 per share. Sales last quarter amounted to NT$5.61 billion, up 7.9 percent from a year earlier. The company said pretax earnings from its aftermarket division decreased by 9 percent year-on-year last quarter, while that from its original equipment manufacturing division grew by 65 percent during the same period.
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
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],”
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day
Thousands of parents in Singapore are furious after a Cordlife Group Ltd (康盛人生集團), a major operator of cord blood banks in Asia, irreparably damaged their children’s samples through improper handling, with some now pursuing legal action. The ongoing case, one of the worst to hit the largely untested industry, has renewed concerns over companies marketing themselves to anxious parents with mostly unproven assurances. This has implications across the region, given Cordlife’s operations in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The parents paid for years to have their infants’ cord blood stored, with the understanding that the stem cells they contained