LIFE INSURERS
Hontai plan still uncertain
Hontai Life Insurance Co’s (宏泰人壽) plan to lift its risk-based capital (RBC) adequacy remains uncertain, as major shareholder Everpro Insurance Brokers Co Ltd (永達保險經紀人) does not support Hontai Life’s fundraising plan. Hontai yesterday failed to hold a shareholders’ meeting to discuss a plan to sell land assets to raise funds. The Financial Supervisory Commission yesterday said Hontai Life needs to raise its RBC ratio to the legal requirement of 200 percent by the end of this year, from the current level of between 50 and 100 percent. The commission said the insurer’s other major shareholders can cope with the recapitalization issue.
SEMICONDUCTORS
Win tips revenue surge
Win Semiconductors Corp (穩懋半導體) yesterday told an investors’ conference that revenue for this quarter would see a double-digit percentage increase from last quarter’s NT$2.81 billion (US$90.14 million) after reporting better-than-expected earnings for last quarter, as handset and Wi-Fi-related clients are entering their peak season. Win provides foundry services for gallium arsenide components used in handsets. In the first quarter, Win reported net income of NT$618 million, or earnings per share of NT$0.83, with a gross margin of 37.9 percent and an operating margin of 27.6 percent.
LENS SUPPLIERS
Largan shares beat record
Shares of Largan Precision Co (大立光), a leading local smartphone camera lens module supplier, yesterday hit a record high for the company, as investors expressed confidence in the company’s leading position in the sector. Shares closed 0.34 percent higher at NT$2,945 on expectations that the firm would benefit from industrial migration of handset camera lenses to 10-megapixel and more advanced models.
CHEMICALS
Namchow reports solid Q1
Namchow Chemical Industrial Co (南僑化工) on Monday reported solid financial results for the first quarter, benefiting from continuing capacity expansion, lower raw material prices and a one-off tax benefit from its Guangzhou plant in China. The company said net income grew 38.1 percent from a year earlier to NT$289 million, or NT$1.16 per share, and revenue increased by 6 percent to NT$3.57 billion. Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co (元大投顧) yesterday raised its earnings forecast for Namchow by 4.8 percent to NT$4.4 per share and increased its share price target to NT$83.
SOLAR ENERGY
Green Energy to sell shares
Green Energy Technology Inc (綠能科技), the nation’s biggest solar wafer maker, yesterday said it has secured shareholders’ approval to sell 150 million new shares and plans to use the proceeds to improve its financial structure, according a company filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange. The company said it plans to raise funds via private placements, without elaborating. Green Energy posted a net loss of NT$2.09 billion last year, or NT$5.54 loss per share.
PC MAKERS
Inventec dividend approved
Contract PC maker Inventec Corp (英業達) yesterday said its board approved the distribution of NT$1.75 per share in a cash dividend based on last year’s net profit of NT$7.09 billion, or earnings per share of NT$1.98, with a payout ratio of 88.38 percent. The planned dividend suggests a yield of 8.27 percent, based on the firm’s closing share price of NT$21.15 yesterday.
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],”
TRANSFORMATION: Taiwan is now home to the largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, thanks to the nation’s economic policies President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday attended an event marking the opening of Google’s second hardware research and development (R&D) office in Taiwan, which was held at New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋). This signals Taiwan’s transformation into the world’s largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, validating the nation’s economic policy in the past eight years, she said. The “five plus two” innovative industries policy, “six core strategic industries” initiative and infrastructure projects have grown the national industry and established resilient supply chains that withstood the COVID-19 pandemic, Tsai said. Taiwan has improved investment conditions of the domestic economy
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