TAXES
Revenue declines 9.8%
The National Treasury collected NT$175 billion (US$5.56 billion) in tax revenue last month, representing an annual decrease of 9.8 percent, mainly due to a decline in corporate income, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. Corporate income stood at NT$109.6 billion last month, an 11.7 percent fall from the same period last year, the ministry said. Securities transaction taxes last month shrank 27.2 percent to NT$5.1 billion, while property taxes slumped 16.1 percent to NT$6.8 billion, the ministry said. For the first 10 months of the year, tax revenues were NT$1.88 trillion, representing a year-on-year increase of 4.1 percent and surpassing the budget target by 5.1 percent, or NT$90.4 billion, the ministry said.
RETAILERS
Scan-D revenue increases
Scan-D Corp (詩肯), which designs and sells teak furniture under the Scanteak brand, yesterday posted revenue of NT$141 million for last month, a 4.77 percent increase from the same period last year. The figure represents monthly growth of 4.2 percent from September’s NT$135.32 million, according to a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange. From January through last month, the company saw its combined sales increase 0.71 percent from the same period last year to NT$1.31 billion.
E-PAPER DISPLAYS
E Ink signs deal with JDI
E Ink Holdings Co (元太科技), the world’s largest e-paper display supplier, yesterday said it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Japan Display Inc (JDI) to introduce e-paper displays to its mobile digital signage system and mobile phone customers. JDI, which supplies displays to Apple Inc, is to continue to advance the development, production and sales of new products using LCD backplane technology, including e-paper displays utilizing JDI’s proprietary LTPS and in-cell touch to enter new market applications, such as automotive, dynamic computer keyboards, display cards, education, Internet-of-Things displays and many more, according to a joint statement.
GAMING
Soft-World profits surge
Video game developer Soft-World International Corp (智冠科技) yesterday posted NT$72.93 million in net profit for last quarter, representing annual growth of 32.93 percent, or earnings per share of NT$0.57. However, the figure is a 36.52 percent decline from the prior quarter’s NT$114.9 million, according to a company filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange. The firm’s accumulative net income reached NT$327 million in the first three quarters of this year, jumping 33.07 percent from the same period last year, the filing showed.
PHARMACEUTICALS
TaiGen eyes NHI approval
TaiGen Biopharmaceuticals Holdings Ltd (太景醫藥研發控股) yesterday said that the company would continue to work with the government to devise viable drug reimbursement terms for its new antibiotic Taigexyn. While Taigexyn’s inclusion on the National Health Insurance (NHI) program would greatly increase its access to the local market, the company is compelled to focus on larger international markets, Taigen chief operating officer Hsu Ming-chu (許明珠) said at an investors’ conference yesterday. Lower-than-expected pricing in Taiwan would create a precedent and limit the company’s pricing strategies for other markets, Hsu 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