ECONOMY
Daiwa forecasts GDP growth
Daiwa Capital Markets Inc yesterday said the TAIEX is likely to trade between 7,800 points and 8,900 points this year, as Taiwan’s GDP might grow 1.2 percent annually. In its latest equity strategy report, Daiwa said a “mini” upturn cycle is likely to emerge in the tech sector, where upstream firms should outperform given their higher operating leverage. Daiwa said it also favors the industrial sector as the downside for end demand to fall further from its low level last year is limited, while a strong Japanese yen is helping some Taiwanese firms gain back some competitiveness, according to the report. Daiwa’s top picks among Taiwanese stocks include United Microelectronics Corp (聯電), LandMark Optoelectronics Corp (聯亞光電), Largan Precision Co (大立光), General Interface Solution Holding Ltd (業成), Ennoconn Corp (樺漢), Hiwin Technologies Corp (上銀), Taiwan Paiho Ltd (台灣百和) and Eclat Textile Co (儒鴻).
INVESTMENT
Firms see trading restricted
The Taiwan Stock Exchange Corp (TWSE) has banned five companies from trading their shares on margin starting, beginning today, after their net value fell below the threshold of NT$5 per share. Trading in shares of Macronix International Co (旺宏), China Television Co (中視), Chi Cheng Enterprise Co (及成), Honyi Precision Industry Co (宏易) and Bull Will Co (百徽) are to be restricted to cash-only transactions, according to the exchange.
INDUSTRY
Listed firms’ profits fall
Taiwan-listed companies, excluding financial holdings firms, reported an overall 21.06 percent average decrease in pre-tax profits for the first quarter of this year due to poor results in the semiconductor, optoelectronics and shipping sectors, the stock exchange said on Tuesday. The companies’ pre-tax profits totaled a combined NT$347 billion (US$10.61 billion) in the first three months of the year, compared with NT$439.5 billion a year earlier. Their January-to-March revenue decreased 5.69 percent year-on-year to NT$5.93 trillion, the TWSE said in a statement. Among the 810 companies listed in Taiwan, 406 reported higher profits in the first quarter than the same period of last year.
FOOD AND BEVERAGE
Vigor Kobo payout approved
Shareholders of Vigor Kobo (維格餅家), a bakery specializing in traditional Taiwanese cakes and pastries, yesterday approved the company’s proposal to distribute a cash dividend of NT$5 per share, representing a payout ratio of 93.8 percent. Vigor’s net profit dropped 29.95 percent annually to NT$127 million last year, with earnings per share of NT$5.33, while revenue fell 14.66 percent to NT$1.14 billion due to low customer traffic and China business restructuring. Gross margin and operating margin decreased to 69.45 percent and 12.66 percent last year, from 70.29 percent and 16.03 percent in 2014 respectively.
ECONOMY
Central bank sells bonds
The central bank on Tuesday sold NT$30 billion in 30-year Treasury bonds, with the interest rate reaching a record-low of 1.65 percent, an indication that the bank might cut interest rates again to revive economic growth. Traders have forecast a cut to the benchmark interest rate when the central bank meets next month, with 14 of 20 economists surveyed by Bloomberg expecting a reduction. Taiwan’s GDP fell 0.84 percent annually in the first quarter.
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
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],”