China Petrochemical Development Corp (中石化) yesterday announced that its board named one of its members, Lin Keh-ming (林克銘), as company chairman.
Lin replaces Shen Ching-ching (沈慶京), who resigned because of health reasons, effective immediately, China Petrochemical said in a statement.
The board also approved plans to recruit new personnel to help the company make progress in energy research, land development and future business transformation, the company said.
STAKE SALE
China Petrochemical also said it plans to sell a 40 percent stake in Taiwan Chlorine Industries Ltd (TCI, 台灣志氯) to Georgia Gulf Corp (GGC) to fulfill a deal made three years ago.
TCI is a 40-60 joint venture between China Petrochemical and US-based PPG Industries Inc, but shares of TCI are also held by GGC because it was acquired by PPG in 2012.
China Petrochemical signed an agreement in 2013 with PPG and GGC that allows the Taiwanese company to sell its stake in TCI to GGC at an agreed price if TCI could not go public in Taiwan within three years.
In a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday, China Petrochemical said it plans to sell its TCI stake to GGC for US$100 million.
EARNINGS
The transaction is expected to allow China Petrochemical to earn NT$2.84 billion (US$87.94 million), or NT$1.2 per share, the company said.
The company issued the filing after the Taipei stock market closed.
Shares of China Petrochemical increased 1.74 percent to close at NT$8.2 in Taipei trading yesterday, surpassing the TAIEX’s 0.64 percent.
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Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day
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