PHARMACEUTICALS
Cancer drug approved
Drug developer PharmaEngine Inc (智擎) on Tuesday said that the European Commission has notified its licensing partner Shire PLC that sales permission for the new pancreatic cancer drug, Onivyde, in combination with 5-Fluorouracil and Leucovorin, has been approved. PharmaEngine is entitled to receive a milestone payment of US$25 million, which is estimated to contribute NT$6.49 (US$0.21) to its earnings per share. For the whole of this year, PharmaEngine is forecast to recognize major milestone payments totaling US$66.5 million, Capital Securities Corp (群益證券) said in a client note yesterday. With Onivyde hitting the European market soon, PharmaEngine is expected to receive sales royalties in proportion to the quarterly sales of the drug, along with three milestone payments totaling US$130 million over the next three years, Yuanta Securities Corp (元大證券) said in a separate note.
INTERNET
PChome Thai unit approved
Online shopping portal PChome Online Inc (網路家庭) yesterday said its Thailand unit has gained the approval of the Electronic Transactions Commission to conduct electronic payment services in the kingdom. The company said PChome Thailand Co Ltd, a joint venture with Cal-Comm Electronics and Communication Co (泰金寶), which is a unit of Taiwanese electronics conglomerate New Kinpo Group (新金寶集團), is to become the first Taiwanese e-commerce company to provide a variety of services in the kingdom.
AUTO PARTS
Tong Yang’s profits surge
Tong Yang Industry Co (東陽實業), which supplies automotive metal sheets and bumpers to global brands, reported a pre-tax profit of NT$254 million last month, up 25.25 percent from the previous month, as shipments continued to increase after the end of Chinese automakers’ summer break. As China’s new car sales continue to rise, Tong Yang’s original equipment manufacturing business there is expected to maintain consistent growth, with its plant in Foshan, Guangdong Province, already generating profits. However, the company’s plant in Xiangyang, Hubei Province, is still operating at a loss and is not expected to break even before the end of the year, the company said.
COMPONENTS
Jih Sun upbeat on TXC
Quartz crystal components maker TXC Corp (台灣晶技) might see its revenue increase 5 percent from last quarter’s NT$2.6 billion, setting a record-high for the company, thanks to clients’ increasing demand for sensor products and temperature compensated crystal oscillators, Jih Sun Securities Investment Consulting Co (日盛投顧) said in client note yesterday. The company’s gross margin could grow to 25.7 percent in the third quarter, with net profit up 24.9 percent quarterly to NT$260 million, Jih Sun said. The company, which designs, manufactures and sells frequency-control crystal components, is forecast to report net profit of NT$1 billion for whole of this year, with earnings per share of NT$3.24, the brokerage said.
RATINGS
Fitch upgrades utilities
Fitch Ratings Ltd on Tuesday upgraded its credit ratings on the nation’s state-run refiner CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 中油) and state-owned utility Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電). In a press release, the ratings agency said it has moved up its long-term foreign and local currency issuer default ratings to “AA-” from “A+” for both CPC and Taipower. Their national long-term ratings have been affirmed at “AAA(twn),” and the outlooks for their credit ratings are stable, Fitch said.
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],”