BANKING
Earnings from China plunge
China-derived earnings by domestic banks in the first seven months of this year have fallen by 89.2 percent year-on-year to NT$270 million (US$8.63 million), data from the Financial Supervisory Commission showed. That compared with a 0.7 percent decline in banks’ overseas earnings excluding China, the data showed. The outcome paints a gloomy picture of China’s economic slowdown, which has led to increased loan defaults, the commission said. Meanwhile, three domestic banks — Taiwan Cooperative Bank (合庫銀行), Chang Hwa Commercial Bank (彰化銀行) and Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行) — have reported combined bad debts in China totaling NT$373 million in the first seven months, translating to a non-performing-loan ratio of 0.27 percent, the commission said.
AUTO PARTS
Tong Yang sales improve
Auto parts maker Tong Yang Industry Co (東陽實業) yesterday reported consolidated sales of NT$1.95 billion for last month, up 18 percent year-on-year, supported by robust demand in the global auto market. From January to last month, total revenue increased 8 percent to NT$15.7 billion from the same period last year, the highest increase in the company’s history in the period. Looking ahead, Tong Yang expects revenue to grow further by the end of this year, as the fourth quarter is the peak season for after-sales car components, a company official said by telephone.
MANUFACTURING
Coretronic revenue falls
Coretronic Corp (中光電), a maker of LCD backlight modules, yesterday reported revenue of NT$4.98 billion for last month, down 18.93 percent year-on-year. On a monthly basis, revenue grew about 5 percent, the company said in a statement. Coretronic, which also produces energy-saving items, visual-solution products and projectors, said revenue in the first eight months of the year declined 16.35 percent from the same period a year earlier to NT$37.22 billion, affected mainly by lukewarm global TV demand and a decline in market share for small to mid-sized products.
ODM
Inventec sales rise
Inventec Corp (英業達) yesterday reported sales of NT$37.77 billion for last month, expanding 15.51 percent from NT$32.7 billion a year earlier and 8.47 percent from NT$34.82 billion made the previous month. Inventec attributed the strong revenue performance to increased shipments for Xiaomi Corp’s (小米) smartphones and wearable devices for a US company. Robust demand for notebook computers last month also fueled its sales growth last month, Inventec said. Combined revenue in the first eight months totaled NT$276.29 billion, it said.
ODM
Wistron revenue up 24.32%
Wistron Corp (緯創) yesterday posted revenue of NT$58.48 billion for last month, its highest monthly sales in the past nine months. The result soared 24.32 percent from last year’s NT$47.04 billion and 23.02 percent from the prior month’s NT$47.53 billion, the company said in a statement. Wistron said the growth momentum was mainly driven by the increasing shipments of notebook computers and growing demand for the firm’s “smart” devices, including smartphones. Demand for servers and monitor also helped its revenues last month, it said. However, accumulated revenue in the first eight months dropped 0.28 percent year-on-year to NT$387.34 billion, it said.
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],”
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
Thousands of parents in Singapore are furious after a Cordlife Group Ltd (康盛人生集團), a major operator of cord blood banks in Asia, irreparably damaged their children’s samples through improper handling, with some now pursuing legal action. The ongoing case, one of the worst to hit the largely untested industry, has renewed concerns over companies marketing themselves to anxious parents with mostly unproven assurances. This has implications across the region, given Cordlife’s operations in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The parents paid for years to have their infants’ cord blood stored, with the understanding that the stem cells they contained