PETROCHEMICALS
FPG yearly revenue slides
Formosa Plastics Group (FPG, 台塑集團), the nation’s largest industrial conglomerate, yesterday said the combined revenue of its four major units decreased by 16.3 percent year-on-year. But the figure grew 0.7 percent month-on-month to NT$131.93 billion (US$4.3 billion) last month, as higher product prices offset the impact from weaker sales volume.
Among the four units, refiner Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) reported the largest annual decline in sales — 25.2 percent last month to NT$54.95 billion. However, the figure went up 0.9 percent from March because of rebounding crude oil prices. Flagship Formosa Plastics Corp (台塑) reported sales of NT$18.03 billion, down 8.6 percent year-on-year and 0.7 percent month-on-month amid slowing demand for PVC and linear low-density polyethylene. Nan Ya Plastics Corp (南亞塑膠) posted sales of NT$28.73 billion, up 4.2 percent from the previous year, and Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corp (台灣化學纖維) reported sales of NT$30.22 billion, down 17.9 percent year-on-year.
BANKING
Cathay launches Koko brand
Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行) yesterday launched its Koko brand to promote its next-generation banking services, including a mobile app, Web site, online banking and credit card services. The mobile app can automatically integrate users’ bank and credit card accounts with Cathay United and help customers manage their accounts, the bank said. Cathay United is a subsidiary of Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控).
SOLAR POWER
Giga Solar shares surge
Giga Solar Materials Corp (碩禾), a photovoltaic conductive paste maker, yesterday saw shares surge after sales last month hit a record high. Consolidated sales rose 53.7 percent year-on-year and 13 percent month-on-month to NT$1.09 billion last month as clients completed their inventory digestion. Cumulative sales for the first four months of the year totaled NT$3.91 billion, up 44.88 percent from a year earlier, company data showed.
CONSTRUCTION
Huaku posts net income
Huaku Development Co (華固建設), which posted earnings per share (EPS) of NT$5.08 last year, yesterday said net income was NT$1.17 billion in the first quarter, or NT$4.22 per share, with consolidated sales of NT$2.59 billion, according to a company filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange. The construction company attributed first-quarter results to contribution from a new property project in Taipei’s Beitou District (北投). Huaku has a confident sales outlook this year, it said, citing new projects in Beitou and Taoyuan.
ELECTRONICS
Dialog eyes Dyna deal
Germany-based Dialog Semiconductor PLC and ShunSin Technology Holdings Ltd (訊芯) yesterday announced plans to invest in the Lite-On Group’s (光寶集團) Dyna Image Corp (敦宏), an optical sensor designer. Dialog is to gain a 40 percent stake in Dyna Image in a deal expected to close next month, a joint statement said. ShunSin Technology, a Hon Hai Group (鴻海集團) subsidiary, is also to take an equity position in Dyna Image, the statement said. The strategic partnership is expected to accelerate Dialog’s entrance into China’s fast-growing consumer markets, while their collaboration is targeted to provide increased system content for smartphones, wearables and smart digital lighting devices, the companies said.
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
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
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last