FINANCE
FSC cuts short sale ratio
The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) yesterday announced that beginning on Tuesday, the minimum margin maintenance ratio for short sales will be lowered to 90 percent. The commission raised the ratio to 120 percent on Jan. 8 as precipitous tumbles in the Chinese equity markets rocked the local bourse. Regarding its latest move, the commission yesterday said intervention measures should not be prolonged as markets at home and abroad have since began to stabilize.
STOCK MARKET
Morgan Stanley raises rating
Morgan Stanley has decided to upgrade its rating on Taiwan to “buy” and raise its TAIEX target to 9,000 points from 8,800 under its latest reshuffle of its emerging markets portfolio. In a report released yesterday, Morgan Stanley said it turned positive toward the Taiwanese market, because the local market has increased its return on equity since 2011, even though its price-to-book ratio has fallen during the period. The bank also recommended that investors load up on 16 Taiwanese stocks, inclucding Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), Largan Precision Co (大立光), Catcher Technology Co (可成) and Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信).
TELECOMS
Senao Networks earns more
Senao Networks Inc (神準), which develops integrated connectivity products, data networking and wireless voice communications products, reported that its net income increased 32.72 percent year-on-year to NT$811.96 million (US$24.99 million) last year, with record-high earnings per share of NT$16.6 and annual sales of NT$7.58 billion. With positive order outlook, Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co (元大投顧) said its sales growth will be sequential this year.
SOLAR CELLS
Gintech secures loan
Solar cell maker Gintech Energy Corp (昱晶) yesterday said it has secured a three-year NT$4.2 billion syndicated loan from 13 domestic banks, led by state-run First Commercial Bank (第一銀行). The company said it plans to use the funds to buy raw materials overseas and to repay bank loans. The loan includes a provision for a two-year extension upon the agreement of all parties.
PHARMACEUTICALS
OBI shares rise 3.46%
Drug maker OBI Pharma Inc (台灣浩鼎) yesterday saw shares rise 3.46 percent to close at NT$463, ending a run of four consecutive declines on the over-the-counter bourse. Investors had been offloading shares in OBI Pharma after it on Sunday released discouraging results on the second and third-phase clinical trials of a new breast cancer drug, OBI-822. The firm this week decided to spend up to NT$2.799 billion on a program to repurchase 3 million shares.
COMPUTERS
Non-PC drives supply chain
With PC demand remaining weak, the non-PC business will likely be a more important catalyst for the PC supply chain in Asia, Daiwa Capital Markets Inc said in a client note on Thursday. Among contract PC makers, Pegatron Corp (和碩) remains Daiwa’s top pick, given its favorable exposure in iPhone assembly and improving operating leverage, according to the note. Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) also appears attractive because of its leading position in cloud server business, Daiwa said. Foreign exchange rates will remain a concern for Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想), Acer Inc (宏碁) and Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) in the coming months, it said.
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
FUTURE PLANS: Although the electric vehicle market is getting more competitive, Hon Hai would stick to its goal of seizing a 5 percent share globally, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), a major iPhone assembler and supplier of artificial intelligence (AI) servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s chips, yesterday said it has introduced a rotating chief executive structure as part of the company’s efforts to cultivate future leaders and to enhance corporate governance. The 50-year-old contract electronics maker reported sizable revenue of NT$6.16 trillion (US$189.67 billion) last year. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has been under the control of one man almost since its inception. A rotating CEO system is a rarity among Taiwanese businesses. Hon Hai has given leaders of the company’s six