SMARTPHONES
Largan to pay cash dividend
Largan Precision Co (大立光), which supplies camera lenses for Apple Inc’s iPhones, yesterday said it plans to distribute a cash dividend of NT$63.5 per share, based on last year’s net profit of NT$24.15 billion (US$746.27 million), or NT$180.08 per share. Largan’s planned cash dividend is to again set the Taiwan Stock Exchange record for greatest cash dividend, following a record-high NT$51 per share last year. This year’s planned distribution translates into a payout ratio of 35.26 percent, slightly greater than last year’s 35.19 percent. Largan’s planned dividend represents a dividend yield of 2.92 percent, based on the company’s closing price of NT$2,170 on the local bourse yesterday.
POULTRY
Charoen says income surged
Poultry producer Charoen Pokphand Enterprise (Taiwan) Co Ltd (台灣卜蜂企業) yesterday reported that net income surged 46.01 percent annually to NT$255.3 million in the period from January to last month. Earnings per share increased from NT$0.72 a year earlier to NT$0.95. Consolidated revenue rose 6.16 percent annually to NT$4.26 billion, primarily due to a rebound in pork and chicken prices, the company said. Its board last week approved the distribution of a cash dividend of NT$2 per share, the highest in the company’s history. That represented a payout ratio of roughly 78 percent, as the company made NT$2.57 per share last year.
SOLAR ENERGY
Neo Solar raises NT$2.88bn
Solar cell maker Neo Solar Power Corp (新日光能源) yesterday said it has raised NT$2.88 billion via a rights issuance to fund its expansion and to repay debts. Neo Solar is the first local solar company to complete a fundraising program this year, as concerns over a renewed downturn weigh on prices following dwindling demand from China. The company said it has issued 160 million new common shares at NT$18 each for existing shareholders, Neo Solar said in a company statement. The proceeds are to be used to replenish operating funds and to repay bank loans, as well as for future expansion, the company said.
MEMORY CHIPS
AP Memory forecasts growth
AP Memory Technology Corp (愛普科技), which designs mobile DRAM chips, expects revenue to grow by between 20 percent and 25 percent annually this year. The Hsinchu-based company generated NT$2.6 billion in revenue last year. AP Memory, of which Powerchip Technology Corp (力晶) and its subsidiaries own 20 percent, is slated to hold an investor conference today before debuting its shares on the main domestic stock exchange next month. AP Memory chairman Brian Hsieh (謝再居) said the launch of the firm’s low-power DRAM chips is to drive revenue growth. AP Memory farms out most of its production to Powerchip, Hsieh said.
AVIATION
V Air to begin Okinawa route
V Air (威航), one of Taiwan’s two budget carriers, yesterday said it is scheduled to launch flights to Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture from July 1 to tap strong demand over the upcoming summer vacation period. V Air, a low-cost subsidiary of mid-sized international airline TransAsia Airways Corp (復興航空), said it has priced one-way tickets to and from Okinawa at only NT$888 for the period of July 1 to Oct. 21. The carrier said that passengers would be able to buy round-trip tickets for less than NT$3,000 including tax.
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
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
TRANSFORMATION: Taiwan is now home to the largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, thanks to the nation’s economic policies President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday attended an event marking the opening of Google’s second hardware research and development (R&D) office in Taiwan, which was held at New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋). This signals Taiwan’s transformation into the world’s largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, validating the nation’s economic policy in the past eight years, she said. The “five plus two” innovative industries policy, “six core strategic industries” initiative and infrastructure projects have grown the national industry and established resilient supply chains that withstood the COVID-19 pandemic, Tsai said. Taiwan has improved investment conditions of the domestic economy
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