COMPUTERS
Quanta Q2 earnings slide
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) yesterday reported sliding earnings and profit margins last quarter from the first quarter, despite foreign-exchange hedging gains and higher revenue. Net income decreased 17.1 percent year-on-year and 8.1 percent quarter-on-quarter to NT$3.37 billion (US$105 million) in the second quarter, with earnings per share of NT$0.88, Quanta said in a statement. Revenue rose 22.3 percent quarterly to NT$251.01 billion, but gross margin declined from 5.08 percent to 4.37 percent and operating margin dropped from 1.82 percent to 1.78 percent, the company said. Analysts said the margins were weighed down by start-up costs and yield issues on manufacturing the Apple watch. The company said it made NT$455 million in foreign-exchange gains last quarter, following a loss of NT$152 million in the first quarter.
MANUFACTURING
Chi Mei profit plunges
Chi Mei Material Technology Corp (奇美材料), a supplier of LCD polarizers to panel maker Innolux Corp (群創光電), yesterday reported that net profit plunged 52.65 percent to NT$215.896 million last quarter, or NT$0.42 per share, following a 22.26 percent annual drop in revenue to NT$3.2 billion. The company said that revenue is likely to rebound in the fourth quarter and revenue for the second half will be higher than the first half, thanks to contributions from new Chinese customers and higher orders. In a separate filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange, Chi Mei Material said that its board had agreed to seek a syndicated loan of US$100 million to finance the needs of its new factories in Kunshan, China. The five-year loan will be backed by Bank of Taiwan (臺灣銀行), Chang Hwa Commercial Bank (彰化銀行), Taipei Fubon Bank (台北富邦銀行) and E.Sun Commercial Bank (玉山銀行), the company said.
TAXES
Revenue up 0.7% in July
The national treasury collected NT$104.8 billion in tax revenue last month, up 0.7 percent from a year earlier, as business and commodity tax gains more than offset losses in securities transaction levy, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The business tax increased 5.5 percent year-on-year to NT$62.1 billion while the commodity tax grew 13.3 percent to NT$17.6 billion, the ministry said. The increase muted the losses of NT$2.4 billion in the securities transaction tax, which stood at NT$7.2 billion last month, it said. As of last month, tax revenues totaled NT$1.29 trillion, up 9 percent from the same period last year and enough to meet the budget target of 8.6 percent, the ministry said.
AVIATION
EVA boss not leaving
EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) chairman Chang Kuo-wei (張國煒) is to remain at the helm of the carrier, the company said on Monday, contrary to an off-the-cuff comment he made on Facebook that hinted at resignation. Chang said that perhaps he should step down for his less-than-stellar leadership following massive flight disruptions as Typhoon Soudelor carved a path across Taiwan on Saturday. However, EVA spokesperson Nieh Kuo-wei (聶國維) said that Chang was merely expressing his deep apology and regret over disappointing passengers and crew members because of the disruptions. Last month, EVA performed better than its local peers by posting a 4.2 percent year-on-year increase and 16.3 percent month-on-month rise in sales to NT$12.8 billion.
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