BANKING
Yuan activity on the rise
Yuan deposits at Taiwanese banks rose 0.48 percent last month to 318.23 billion yuan (US$48.35 billion), after falling for five consecutive months as local investors increased holdings, the latest data released by the central bank showed yesterday. Yuan deposits edged up 0.04 percent to 271.28 billion yuan at domestic banking units and grew 3.12 percent to 46.95 billion yuan at offshore banking units, the data showed. Remittances hit 345.15 billion yuan last month, up 64.19 percent from 210.22 billion yuan in November, as yuan activity tends to be stronger at the end of the year, the central bank said.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Canadian double tax cut
Taiwan and Canada have signed an agreement to prevent the taxation of the same income twice in the two nations, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. The signing was completed earlier in the day and is likely to take effect on Jan. 1 next year, after the two sides complete the necessary domestic procedures, the ministry said in a statement. The ministry hoped the agreement would help create a friendlier environment for bilateral investment, especially considering the potential for further cooperation in the technology, healthcare, clean energy, sustainable development and services sectors. Canada is Taiwan’s 24th-largest trade partner and 17th-largest export market, while Taiwan is Canada’s 12th-largest trade partner, the ministry said.
BANKING
King’s Town buy-back ends
King’s Town Bank (京城銀行) yesterday said it had completed its latest round of a share buyback scheme, as the Tainan-based medium-sized bank repurchased 12 million common shares on the open market at NT$22.87 per share on average since Dec. 1 last year. The lender’s shares closed down 2.18 percent at NT$20.2 yesterday in Taipei trading. King’s Town Bank reported net profit of NT$3.68 billion for last year, with earnings per share of NT$3.09.
AUTOMAKERS
Flat yearly growth forecast
Teco Electric and Machinery Co (東元電機), the nation’s largest maker of industrial motors, yesterday said the economy might show “flat growth” this year. “We are not too pessimistic about the economy this year, but we cannot be optimistic either,” Teco chairman Theodore Huang (黃茂雄) told reporters ahead a product launch in Taipei, citing the impacts of an economic recovery in the US, a slowdown in China and uncertainty for Europe. Huang did not provide his economic growth forecast this year. Nomura Holdings Inc this week cut its forecast for Taiwan’s GDP growth to 1.5 percent this year, from its previous estimate of 2.4 percent, leaving Taiwan with one of the region’s weakest growth rates.
OBITUARY
Humble House founder dies
My Humble House Group (寒舍集團) founder Tsai Chen-yang (蔡辰洋), 66, died of a heart attack early yesterday, his family said. The son of Tsai Wan-tsun (蔡萬春), the late founder of the family business group, Tsai Chen-yang founded My Humble House Hospitality Management Consulting Co (寒舍餐旅管理顧問) that operates Le Meridien Taipei, Sheraton Grand Taipei Hotel, Humble House Taipei and A ROY DEE by Sukhothai and Raku Kitchen restaurants. Tsai Chen-yang was a member of the second generation of one of the nation’s wealthiest families, which run several businesses, including Cathay Financial Group (國泰集團).
To many, Tatu City on the outskirts of Nairobi looks like a success. The first city entirely built by a private company to be operational in east Africa, with about 25,000 people living and working there, it accounts for about two-thirds of all foreign investment in Kenya. Its low-tax status has attracted more than 100 businesses including Heineken, coffee brand Dormans, and the biggest call-center and cold-chain transport firms in the region. However, to some local politicians, Tatu City has looked more like a target for extortion. A parade of governors have demanded land worth millions of dollars in exchange
An Indonesian animated movie is smashing regional box office records and could be set for wider success as it prepares to open beyond the Southeast Asian archipelago’s silver screens. Jumbo — a film based on the adventures of main character, Don, a large orphaned Indonesian boy facing bullying at school — last month became the highest-grossing Southeast Asian animated film, raking in more than US$8 million. Released at the end of March to coincide with the Eid holidays after the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, the movie has hit 8 million ticket sales, the third-highest in Indonesian cinema history, Film
BIG BUCKS: Chairman Wei is expected to receive NT$34.12 million on a proposed NT$5 cash dividend plan, while the National Development Fund would get NT$8.27 billion Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday announced that its board of directors approved US$15.25 billion in capital appropriations for long-term expansion to meet growing demand. The funds are to be used for installing advanced technology and packaging capacity, expanding mature and specialty technology, and constructing fabs with facility systems, TSMC said in a statement. The board also approved a proposal to distribute a NT$5 cash dividend per share, based on first-quarter earnings per share of NT$13.94, it said. That surpasses the NT$4.50 dividend for the fourth quarter of last year. TSMC has said that while it is eager
‘IMMENSE SWAY’: The top 50 companies, based on market cap, shape everything from technology to consumer trends, advisory firm Visual Capitalist said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) was ranked the 10th-most valuable company globally this year, market information advisory firm Visual Capitalist said. TSMC sat on a market cap of about US$915 billion as of Monday last week, making it the 10th-most valuable company in the world and No. 1 in Asia, the publisher said in its “50 Most Valuable Companies in the World” list. Visual Capitalist described TSMC as the world’s largest dedicated semiconductor foundry operator that rolls out chips for major tech names such as US consumer electronics brand Apple Inc, and artificial intelligence (AI) chip designers Nvidia Corp and Advanced
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