ECONOMY
3.74% Q1 GDP growth: ANZ
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) yesterday set its forecast for Taiwan’s GDP growth last quarter at 3.74 percent on the back of better domestic demand. The forecast is higher than the government’s projection in February of 3.5 percent for the January-to-March period. The Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics is due to announce first-quarter growth figures on Thursday next week. ANZ in February raised its GDP growth forecast for Taiwan this year from 3.7 percent to 4.2 percent, saying that cheaper oil prices would cut import costs and boost trade surplus.
ELECTRONICS
No stock split for Largan
Largan Precision Co (大立光), which makes smartphone lenses, yesterday said it has not considered a stock split. The firm’s remarks came after its shares surged 4.07 percent to a record high of NT$3,065 yesterday, prompting Hsieh Chin-ho (謝金河), the publisher of the Chinese-language Business Today (今周刊) weekly, to suggest that Largan consider a stock split to lower costs for investors and issue more dividends. Largan said it has not considered such a move as Taiwan lacks relevant regulations, adding that it distributed cash dividends since 2008 and does not plan to alter the policy.
SEMICONDUCTORS
N America rides high: SEMI
The book-to-bill ratio for North American-based semiconductor equipment manufacturers rose to 10 month high at 1.1 last month, indicating a positive sentiment in the industry, trade association SEMI said in a statement on Tuesday. The three-month average of worldwide bookings rose 4.6 percent to US$1.37 billion last month from February, while the three-month average of worldwide billings fell 2.4 percent to US$1.25 billion, which brought the book-to-bill ratio to 1.1 last month, compared with 1.03 in February.
SOLAR POWER
Firm to offer new shares
Green Energy Technology Inc (綠能科技), the nation’s biggest solar wafer maker by capacity, yesterday said its board approved a NT$600 million (US$19.3 million) fundraising plan via 34.68 million new shares. Green Energy has decided to price the new shares at NT$17.3 each, it said in a statement. San Chih Semiconductor Co (尚志半導體) and Chih Sheng Holding Co (志生投資) have agreed to subscribe to the new shares, the statement added. Green Energy, San Shih and Chih Sheng are units of Tatung Group (大同集團), a domestic home appliances brand.
ENERGY
Taipower boosts cash prize
State-run Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) is to host a nationwide power conservation competition with a top prize of NT$500,000 cash. To encourage more people to join the contest, the utility plans to give away a total of NT$22.5 million this year, which is 66 percent more than last year’s total prizes of NT$13.5 million, it said. A total of 88,000 households participated in the competition last year, Taipower said.
INVESTMENTS
Cross-strait funds approved
The Investment Commission yesterday said it has approved the state-run Bank of Taiwan (台灣銀行) to transfer US$165 million to China for setting up a branch in the city of Guangzhou. The commission also approved Hua Nan Commercial Bank (華南商業銀行) to wire US$83 million to its branch in Shenzhen, China, the commission said in a statement.
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure