FOREX
Reserves hit US$433.18bn
The nation’s foreign-exchange reserves totaled US$433.18 billion as of the end of last month, an increase of US$1.58 billion from a month earlier, the central bank said yesterday. The bank attributed the increase to returns from foreign-exchange reserves management and the appreciation of the euro and other reserve currencies against the US dollar.
MANUFACTURING
Catcher Q1 profit falls 10.6%
Metal casing supplier Catcher Technology Co (可成) yesterday said its first-quarter profit fell 10.6 percent from a year ago and order visibility for the second quarter is unclear. Net profit in the first quarter was NT$4.16 billion (US$128.5 million), or earnings per share of NT$5.4, the lowest in seven quarters, the company said. Catcher also reported weaker-than-expected sales of NT$6.04 billion for last month and forecast flat sales growth for this month and next month. Consolidated sales for the first four months of the year totaled NT$22.88 billion, down 6.6 percent from the same period last year, it said.
MANUFACTURING
Largan revenue up 3%
Camera lens supplier Largan Precision Co (大立光) yesterday posted better-than-expected revenue for last month, but predicted flat growth this month. Consolidated revenue for last month grew 3 percent from March, but declined 27 percent from a year ago to NT$3.11 billion, it said. Cumulative revenue for the first four months of the year totaled NT$11.38 billion, down 23 percent year-on-year. Largan said higher-margin products featuring 10 megapixels or more contributed between 50 percent and 60 percent of its total shipments, while 8-megapixel products accounted for between 20 percent and 30 percent and a 5-megapixel product line for between 10 percent and 20 percent.
ELECTRONICS
Lextar Corp bottoms out
Lextar Electronics Corp (隆達), which makes upstream LED chips and provides downstream packaging services, yesterday said its business has bottomed out, judging from its sales figures for last month. Consolidated sales grew 3.7 percent year-on-year and 3.3 percent month-on-month to NT$1.25 billion last month, driven by higher contribution from lighting business, Lextar said. In the first four months of the year, total sales increased 1.42 percent year-on-year to NT$4.64 billion, it said.
SEMICONDUCTORS
Realtek sees record sales
Realtek Semiconductor Corp (瑞昱) yesterday reported record sales for last month and is expected to maintain its growth momentum this month amid strong demand for networking infrastructure in China and order gains following the merger between Avago Technologies Ltd and Broadcom Corp. The networking chips designer said its consolidated sales grew 1.03 percent from March and 31.27 percent from the same month last year to NT$3.48 billion. Total sales in the first four months of the year were up 23.47 percent annually to NT$12.46 billion.
ONLINE GAMES
X-Legend revenue rises
Online game publisher X-Legend Entertainment Co (傳奇網路) yesterday said its consolidated revenue rose 21.82 percent last month from March and 15.69 percent yearly to NT$99.54 million on higher contributions of new products and royalties. That brought the company’s total revenue for the first four months of the year to NT$364.69 million, down 3.22 percent from a year ago.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last