INVESTMENT
DMG application reviewed
The Investment Commission yesterday said it received applications on Tuesday from DMG Entertainment executive officer Dan Mintz and Carlyle Group for Mintz’s NT$18.3 billion (US$554.51 million) investment in Eastern Broadcasting Co (EBC, 東森電視台). Commission executive secretary Emile Chang (張銘斌) said the commission is reviewing both parties’ applications to see if they need to submit supplementary documents on what would be the largest transaction in the nation’s cable TV sector in two years. Chang said the commission might take longer than two months to review Mintz’s planned investment, given DMG’s close ties with China. The deal has also to be approved by the Fair Trade Commission and the National Communications Commission.
BANKING
Central bank cuts interest
The central bank said it has slashed the interest it pays financial institutions on reserves that originate from passbook deposits and slashed payments on those from time deposits to reflect market interest rates. The central bank is to pay an interest rate of 0.208 percent on reserves from passbook deposits and 0.973 percent on reserves from time deposits, effective today, the bank said in a statement. The rates were down from 0.228 percent and 1.043 percent respectively. The interest is paid to financial institutions’ B accounts, which make up 55 percent of their reserves, while the central bank does not pay interest on A accounts, which make up the rest of the reserves.
ECONOMY
M1B, M2 annual growth falls
Annual growth of the M1B and M2 money supply decreased last month because of slower growth in bank loans and investments, as well as net capital outflows, the central bank said yesterday. M1B, a narrow measure of the amount of money in circulation, last month rose 6.73 percent from a year earlier, while the broader M2 monetary measurement — which includes M1B, time deposits, foreign currency deposits and mutual funds — increased 6.39 percent, the bank said in its monthly report. That compares with annual growth rates of M1B and M2 in October of 6.75 percent and 6.58 percent respectively. For the first 11 months, the average annual growth rates of M1B and M2 were 6.07 percent and 6.4 percent respectively, the bank said.
FOOD & BEVERAGE
Mr Onion shares surge
Mr Onion (天蔥國際) shares yesterday surged 41.5 percent to NT$92 during the firm’s debut on the Taipei Exchange from an initial public offering price of NT$65. Shares of the steak and pasta restaurant chain operator traded at NT$93.65 on Wednesday on the Emerging Stock Market, a preparatory board for the nation’s two main bourses. The company announced plans to introduce Mrs Mi (米太太) Shanghai cuisine restaurants to Taiwan in the second quarter next year through a partnership with an Australia-based peer.
SMARTPHONES
HTC touts high-end One M10
Smartphone maker HTC Corp (宏達電) yesterday said in a statement that it plans to launch its next flagship model, One M10, next year to penetrate the high-end market. HTC said it would pay close attention to the low-end and mid-range model markets, indicating that it would continue to have a presence in those markets.
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
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
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