STOCK MARKET
Gourmet outranks market
Gourmet Master Co (美食達人), which owns the bakery and coffee chain 85°C, yesterday saw its shares jump 5.26 percent, outranking the broader market’s 1.41 percent rise, after foreign brokerages raised their share price targets for the company on better operating margins and sales forecast this quarter. With ongoing expansion in the company’s China operation, store remodeling in Taiwan and an improved margin in US stores, Gourmet is expected to see its operating margin rise to 8.2 percent this quarter from 7.5 percent last quarter and sales grow 15 percent from last quarter on seasonal demand, JPMorgan Securities Ltd said in a note yesterday.
STOCK MARKET
FIHC starts buyback scheme
Formosa International Hotels Corp’s (FIHC, 晶華國際酒店集團) shares advanced 7.27 percent yesterday, as the company began to buy back its shares after they fell to NT$190 on Tuesday. The company on Wednesday announced plans to purchase 2 million of its shares on the open market, at between NT$165 and NT$230 per share, to support its share price. The buyback scheme started yesterday and will run through Oct. 26, the company said in a Taiwan Stock Exchange filing. In the first seven months of the year, the company reported revenue of NT$3.91 billion (US$119.3 million), up 10.74 percent from the same period last year. Earnings per share were NT$5.02 in the first half of the year, compared with NT$4.45 a year earlier.
BANKING
Fitch weighs in on Yuanta
Fitch Ratings Ltd yesterday said Yuanta Group’s (元大集團) acquisitive growth strategy and offshore expansion plan will weigh on its credit strength, after the group recently announced plans to acquire Seoul-based Hanshin Savings Bank for NT$3.65 billion and Ta Chong Bank Ltd (大眾銀行) for NT$56.55 billion. While the group’s strategy to expand overseas will likely improve the depth and breadth of the group’s product platform and diversify its markets, its weakened capitalization from an expanded balance sheet and growing exposure to risks outside its home market will weigh on the group’s credit strength in the short to medium term, Fitch said in a statement.
Panel makers
BOE Tech gets Taiwan nod
The Investment Commission on Tuesday approved an application by China-based LCD panel maker BOE Technology Group Co (京東方) to set up a local subsidiary to distribute electronic materials in Taiwan, Digitimes news outlet reported on its Web site yesterday. BOE Technology Taiwan will be established with a total investment of NT$30 billion, and will be engaged in the wholesale distribution of electronic materials locally, the report said, citing the commission.
RETAIL
Line rolls out wallet
Messaging app operator Line Corp on Wednesday released an initial list of Taiwanese stores at which Line Pay can be used, extending the company’s mobile payment service. The Line Pay digital wallet, which has a maximum balance of NT$100,000, can pay for purchases in nearly 30 local stores, Line said in a statement. The company’s digital wallet service in Taiwan will compete head-to-head against the services of Pi Mobile Technology Inc (拍付國際) and a mobile payment app run by group-purchasing Web site Gomaji (夠麻吉).
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