HOSPITALITY
FDC revenue rises 9.26%
Hotel and restaurant operator FDC International Hotels Corp (雲品國際) recorded NT$91.27 million (US$2.88 million) in revenue for last month, an increase of 9.26 percent from the same period last year, the company said in a statement. The operator of five-star hotel Fleur de Chine (日月潭雲品酒店) near Sun Moon Lake and buffet restaurant Giardino in New Taipei City’s Sinjhuang District (新莊) accumulated revenue of NT$859.62 million in the first eight months of this year, up by 9.39 percent from the same period last year, the statement said. The hospitality provider last month won regulatory approval for primary listing on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE).
CHIPMAKERS
ADATA books gain from sale
Memory module supplier ADATA Technology Co (威剛科技) yesterday said it would book a profit of NT$4.22 million by selling 8.23 million shares of local DRAM chipmaker Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技). ADATA said it sold the shares at between NT$36.5 and NT$39.3 each, with proceeds totaling NT$310.29 million. After the transaction, the company retained a 0.22 percent stake in Nanya, according to a filing with the TWSE yesterday.
AUTOMOTIVE PARTS
Iron Force sees revenue rise
Automotive parts maker Iron Force Industrial Co Ltd (劍麟) reported revenue of NT$404 million for last month, up by 4.25 percent from the same period last year. In the first eight months of this year, aggregate sales soared 16.4 percent annually to NT$3 billion, as automakers began installing safety systems in new vehicles. The company is cautiously optimistic about the sales outlook for the third quarter thanks to anticipated robust demand for car safety parts, Iron Force said in a statement.
PHARMACEUTICALS
TLC599 trials to be assessed
Taiwan Liposome Co Ltd (台灣微脂體) yesterday announced that it has applied with the Food and Drug Administration to begin assessing the results of first and second-phase clinical trials of its new arthritis drug, TLC599. The company said that it completed the studies in June, and that it hopes to publish the outcomes in the near future. TLC599 encapsulates a corticosteroid in a lipid-based drug delivery system for the treatment of inflammation caused by arthritis. The delivery system is designed to provide immediate pain relief, as well as sustained release, for treatment periods of up to 12 weeks per injection.
SMARTPHONES
Largan shares extend losses
Shares of Largan Precision Co (大立光) yesterday morning extended losses from Saturday, after an Asian brokerage lowered its target price on the stock and urged investors to cut their holdings in the smartphone camera lens supplier, dealers said. The brokerage issued an “underperform” rating on Largan shares and cut its target price on the stock to NT$2,600, the lowest among foreign brokerages that track the firm. The target price indicated that the stock still has room to trend down by more than 20 percent. The brokerage said that a recent strong showing by Largan shares resulted from an upbeat mood about the adoption of dual camera lenses by international smartphone brands, adding that such positive leads had been factored into the stock’s price. “After the launch of Apple Inc’s iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, concerns over sales of the latest models have affected Taiwan’s Apple concept stocks, including Largan,” MasterLink Securities Corp (元富證券) analyst Tom Tang (湯忠謙) said.
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