EQUITIES
Short sale rule changed
In an effort to ensure the stability of the local market and the interests of investors, the minimum margin percentage for short sales have been raised from 90 percent to 120 percent, the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) yesterday said. The measure takes effect today, following a spike in volatility brought on by the steep depreciation of the yuan. The regulator also advised investors to furnish the additional deposit amounts required by the change. The commission said that it is monitoring developments in the domestic and international markets, and will respond with appropriate intervention measures.
STEEL
New refinery approved
China Steel Corp’s (中鋼) board yesterday approved a plan to build a new steel refinery for NT$736 million (US$22.67 million) to cope with rising demand for high-end steel products and for diversifying products, according to a company statement. The nation’s biggest steelmaker operates two steel refineries, but it is finding it difficult to meet demand and therefore decided to construct a third one, which is expected to be completed in June 2018, the statement said.
ELECTRONICS
Yageo hit by taxes
Yageo Corp (國巨), the nation’s largest passive components maker, yesterday said net income fell 24 percent annually and 23.3 percent sequentially to NT$724 million (US$22.3 million) last quarter, or NT$1.07 per share. The company attributed the decline to a higher income tax and tax payment for undistributed earnings. In a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange, the company said its board approved a plan to buy back 40 million shares at between NT$34.8 and NT$69.9 per share in a bid to safeguard shareholders’ interests. The repurchased shares account for 5.91 percent of the firm’s total share outstanding, which the company plans to spend up to NT$16.71 billion to buy back from today until Oct. 12. In the first seven months of the year, cumulative sales totaled NT$16.14 billion, up slightly from NT$15.98 billion a year ago, Yageo said.
RETAIL
FamilyMart Q2 profits slide
Taiwan FamilyMart Co (全家便利商店), the nation’s second-largest convenience store operator, yesterday said net profit dropped 12.76 percent annually to NT$367 million last quarter due to higher costs. That brought its first-half net profit to NT$541 million, down about 13 percent from NT$626 million a year ago. The company blamed an asset impairment loss of NT$85 million and higher costs behind the decline. Revenue rose 2.75 percent to NT$28.06 billion in the first six months of this year from NT$27.31 billion in the same period last year. The company, which operates 1,363 stores in China, said its Chinese business had swung into profit last quarter.
RESTAURANTS
Wowprime sales mixed
Wowprime Corp (王品), which runs 15 restaurant brands in Taiwan and China, reported net income of NT$133 million for its domestic operations, down 71 percent year-on-year, and NT$292 million for its China-based operations, up 82.9 percent compared with last year. Total sales in the first half came to NT$8.6 billion, with Taiwan operations recording an 11.1 percent year-on-year increase, while sales contribution from China grew 35.2 percent annually, the company said in a statement.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
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
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
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],”