FINANCES
Yuanta to acquire Thai firm
Yuanta Financial Holding Co (元大金控) yesterday announced that its board of directors approved plans to acquire 99.9 percent of Thailand’s KK Trade Securities Co Ltd at a cost of 686 million baht (US$19.53 million), to expand the brokerage-centric financial conglomerate’s hold in the Southeast Asia market. As of the end of last year, the Thai brokerage had 11 branches across the kingdom, with paid-in capital of 500 million baht and a net worth of 570 million baht, Yuanta Financial said. The deal is expected to be completed in three months, and the Thai brokerage is to be renamed Yuanta Securities (Thailand) Co Ltd. Yuanta Financial said it is also to initiate a 1 billion baht capital increase plan to bolster the Thai company’s financial condition so that it can engage in more lucrative businesses other than as a stock brokerage, such as private equity. The acquisition represents Yuanta Financial’s second entrance into Thailand. In 2011, the company had gained a foothold in the kingdom through its 29.19 percent stake in a Singaporean brokerage, but it later sold the stake.
TECHNOLOGY
Radiant income increases
Radiant Opto-Electronics Corp (瑞儀光電), a supplier of LCD backlight modules for Apple Inc’s iPads, yesterday reported that net income last quarter rose 10.2 percent annually to NT$436 million (US$13.48 million), with sales gaining 25.9 percent annually to NT$11.88 billion. Earnings per share in the period were NT$0.94 percent. The company’s board of directors approved plans to distribute a cash dividend of NT$4.5, translating to a yield rate of 68 percent based on yesterday’s closing share price of NT$51.3. The company said it is hoping that the debut of popular smartphone models in the second half will drive its sales growth.
BIOTECHNOLOGY
TaiGen drug fast tracked
TaiGen Biotechnology Co (太景生技) yesterday announced that its new hepatitis C drug TG-2349 has been granted fast-track designation by Chinese regulators, which is expected to shorten the timetable for clinical trials. There are only four international and two Chinese pharmaceutical companies that have been given the designation by the Chinese Food and Drug Administration, the company said. Separately, AmCad BioMed Corp (安克生醫) announced that commercialization of its non-invasive system for detecting liver disease has been approved by European regulators.
CHIPMAKERS
C-Media sees shares gain
Shares of C-Media Electronics Inc (驊訊電子), a leading computer audio product maker, yesterday gained 6.29 percent to NT$33.8 as the market reacted favorably to the company’s status as a supplier for two virtual-reality headsets. The company supplies the CM119BN chip for HTC Corp’s (宏達電) Vive, and the CM108B chip for Oculus VR’s Rift product. Aggregate sales last quarter declined 9.48 percent annually to NT$80.76 million, company data showed.
SMARTPHONES
Win income, sales rise
Win Semiconductors Corp (穩懋半導體), a supplier of smartphone modules, yesterday reported that net income last quarter rose 36 percent annually to NT$839 million, while sales reached NT$3.29 billion, 17 percent higher than last year. Earnings per share during the period were NT$1.41, higher than the NT$1.19 in the final quarter of last year.
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