TAIWAN
Foreign reserves rise
Foreign-exchange reserves stood at US$436.73 billion at the end of last month, up US$864 million from August, the central bank said yesterday in a statement, attributing the gain to successful investment and management strategies. The latest data also showed that foreign portfolio managers held US$316.2 billion worth of domestic equities and bonds last month, accounting for 72 percent of total foreign-exchange reserves, the central bank said.
MANUFACTURING
Largan revenue improves
Camera lens supplier Largan Precision Co (大立光) yesterday reported revenue of NT$4.95 billion (US$157.79 million) for last month, its highest monthly figure since November last year. Revenue grew 3 percent from the previous month, but fell 10 percent from a year earlier, the firm said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange. By shipment breakdown, 10 megapixel and above lenses accounted for 60 to 70 percent of its total shipments last month, while 8-megapixel products contributed between 20 and 30 percent, the firm said.
? MANUFACTURING
Catcher reports revenue fall
Metal casings supplier Catcher Technology Co (可成科技) yesterday reported revenue of NT$7.72 billion for last month. That was 3.26 percent less than last year’s NT$7.98 billion, but 10.3 percent more than the previous month’s NT$7 billion, the company said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange. Last month’s revenue marked the company’s highest monthly performance in the past 10 months, company data showed. In the first nine months of this year, Catcher’s revenue contracted 6.5 percent to NT$55.098 billion.
SEMICONDUCTORS
Lextar monthly sales expand
Lextar Corp (隆達), which makes upstream LED chips and provides downstream packaging services, yesterday said its sales last month expanded month-on-month dues to peak season demand for LED backlight units and lighting applications. Sales hit NT$1.24 billion, up 5.15 percent from August, the company said in a statement. However, sales declined 2.82 percent from a year earlier. Accumulated sales in the first nine months of this year fell 1.54 percent annually to NT$10.46 billion, company data showed.
PANELMAKERS
TPK revenue falls 23.6%
Touchpanel maker TPK Holding Co (宸鴻) yesterday reported that third-quarter revenue decreased 23.6 percent to NT$26.17 billion from the previous year, but rose 53.2 percent from the second quarter. That brought revenue in the first three quarters of the year to NT$64.49 billion, down 25.81 percent from the same period last year, due to lower-than-expected demand for tablets and wearable devices.
ELECTRONICS
Chilisin sales improve
Power inductor maker Chilisin Electronics Corp (奇力新) yesterday reported better-than-expected sales for last quarter on the back of rapid growth in electronics products for automobiles and a recovery in China’s smartphone market. Consolidated sales grew 27.1 percent year-on-year and 3.1 percent month-on-month to NT$525 million last month, a record for the company. That helped sales in the third quarter reach NT$1.52 billion, up 21.1 percent from the previous quarter and 25.3 percent from a year earlier, the company said.
To many, Tatu City on the outskirts of Nairobi looks like a success. The first city entirely built by a private company to be operational in east Africa, with about 25,000 people living and working there, it accounts for about two-thirds of all foreign investment in Kenya. Its low-tax status has attracted more than 100 businesses including Heineken, coffee brand Dormans, and the biggest call-center and cold-chain transport firms in the region. However, to some local politicians, Tatu City has looked more like a target for extortion. A parade of governors have demanded land worth millions of dollars in exchange
Hong Kong authorities ramped up sales of the local dollar as the greenback’s slide threatened the foreign-exchange peg. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) sold a record HK$60.5 billion (US$7.8 billion) of the city’s currency, according to an alert sent on its Bloomberg page yesterday in Asia, after it tested the upper end of its trading band. That added to the HK$56.1 billion of sales versus the greenback since Friday. The rapid intervention signals efforts from the city’s authorities to limit the local currency’s moves within its HK$7.75 to HK$7.85 per US dollar trading band. Heavy sales of the local dollar by
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) revenue jumped 48 percent last month, underscoring how electronics firms scrambled to acquire essential components before global tariffs took effect. The main chipmaker for Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp reported monthly sales of NT$349.6 billion (US$11.6 billion). That compares with the average analysts’ estimate for a 38 percent rise in second-quarter revenue. US President Donald Trump’s trade war is prompting economists to retool GDP forecasts worldwide, casting doubt over the outlook for everything from iPhone demand to computing and datacenter construction. However, TSMC — a barometer for global tech spending given its central role in the
An Indonesian animated movie is smashing regional box office records and could be set for wider success as it prepares to open beyond the Southeast Asian archipelago’s silver screens. Jumbo — a film based on the adventures of main character, Don, a large orphaned Indonesian boy facing bullying at school — last month became the highest-grossing Southeast Asian animated film, raking in more than US$8 million. Released at the end of March to coincide with the Eid holidays after the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, the movie has hit 8 million ticket sales, the third-highest in Indonesian cinema history, Film
RSS