MANUFACTURING
Index contracts 15th month
The composite index of the local manufacturing sector contracted for the 15 consecutive month last month, the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, 台灣經濟研究院) said yesterday. The index fell 0.29 points to 9.79 points last month from the previous month, because of the negative growth in exports amid slow global economic recovery, the institute said. The 15-month decline marks the longest period of decline for the index, which gauges the climate of the sector, the institute added.
SEMICONDUCTORS
Hermes income falls 20.76%
Semiconductor inspection tool and equipment maker Hermes Microvision Inc (HMI, 漢微科) yesterday said that its second-quarter net income fell 20.76 percent annually to NT$545.14 million (US$17.08 million), as sales dropped 35.23 percent year-on-year to NT$1.49 billion. The results were compared to a net income of NT$251.8 million in the first quarter on sales of NT$986.22 million. Earnings per share were NT$7.68 for the April-June quarter. In the first half of this year, Hermes Microvision’s net income fell 29.21 percent to NT$796.94 million from the same period last year, with earnings per share falling to NT$11.22 from NT$15.86, the company’s financial statement showed. Last month, the company announced it is to be acquired by ASML Holding NV for NT$1,410 per share in the fourth quarter.
LIGHTING
Laster Tech to list on TAIEX
LED chip and lighting products supplier Laster Tech Corp (麗清科技) yesterday said that it has submitted an application to be listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange. The company, which currently trades its shares on the Taipei Exchange’s Emerging Stock Board, said it expects to be listed on the main bourse in the first quarter of next year. Laster Tech reported record sales of NT$1.5 billion in the first half of this year, up 11.43 percent year-on-year. Sales growth in the second half is to be driven by a subsidy program in China encouraging consumers to purchase lower-emission cars with engines no larger than 1.6 liters, the company said.
MANUFACTURING
EPZA approves investments
The Export Processing Zone Administration (EPZA) on Thursday gave the green light to four companies to invest a total of NT$400 million (US$12.5 million) in Taiwan’s export processing parks, which are to create 130 new job openings. The four companies are Nympheas International Biomaterial Corp (奈菲兒生醫), LIGA Precision Technology Co (利佳精密科技), General Cycle Co (京匯股份) and Luhao Technology Co (陸豪科技), the EPZA said. Nympheas will be the largest investor among the four companies after planning to bring in NT$300 million to the Chungkang Export Processing Zone (中港園區) in Taichung. The four companies will all build new bases in Taichung, a move that will help build Taichung into a hub for smart and precision machinery production.
FINANCE
Yuanta to dissolve Polaris
Yuanta Financial Holding Co (元大金控) on Thursday announced that its board of directors would dissolve its subsidiary Polaris Insurance Agency Co Ltd (寶來保代) on Aug. 31, after gaining authorization from the company’s shareholders. The move is aimed at cutting operating costs, the company said in a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange. It added that most Polaris sales agents have been reassigned to Yuanta Life Insurance Agency Co (元大國際人身保代), a unit under its brokerage unit, Yuanta Securities Co (元大證券).
BUSINESS UPDATE: The iPhone assembler said operations outlook is expected to show quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year growth for the second quarter Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday reported strong growth in sales last month, potentially raising expectations for iPhone sales while artificial intelligence (AI)-related business booms. The company, which assembles the majority of Apple Inc’s smartphones, reported a 19.03 percent rise in monthly sales to NT$510.9 billion (US$15.78 billion), from NT$429.22 billion in the same period last year. On a monthly basis, sales rose 14.16 percent, it said. The company in a statement said that last month’s revenue was a record-breaking April performance. Hon Hai, known also as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), assembles most iPhones, but the company is diversifying its business to
Apple Inc has been developing a homegrown chip to run artificial intelligence (AI) tools in data centers, although it is unclear if the semiconductor would ever be deployed, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. The effort would build on Apple’s previous efforts to make in-house chips, which run in its iPhones, Macs and other devices, according to the Journal, which cited unidentified people familiar with the matter. The server project is code-named ACDC (Apple Chips in Data Center) within the company, aiming to utilize Apple’s expertise in chip design for the company’s server infrastructure, the newspaper said. While this initiative has been
GlobalWafers Co (環球晶圓), the world’s No. 3 silicon wafer supplier, yesterday said that revenue would rise moderately in the second half of this year, driven primarily by robust demand for advanced wafers used in high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, a key component of artificial intelligence (AI) technology. “The first quarter is the lowest point of this cycle. The second half will be better than the first for the whole semiconductor industry and for GlobalWafers,” chairwoman Doris Hsu (徐秀蘭) said during an online investors’ conference. “HBM would definitely be the key growth driver in the second half,” Hsu said. “That is our big hope
The consumer price index (CPI) last month eased to 1.95 percent, below the central bank’s 2 percent target, as food and entertainment cost increases decelerated, helped by stable egg prices, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. The slowdown bucked predictions by policymakers and academics that inflationary pressures would build up following double-digit electricity rate hikes on April 1. “The latest CPI data came after the cost of eating out and rent grew moderately amid mixed international raw material prices,” DGBAS official Tsao Chih-hung (曹志弘) told a news conference in Taipei. The central bank in March raised interest rates by