BANKING
DBS launches app
DBS Bank (Taiwan) yesterday launched a mobile app that offers a one-stop solution for prospective homebuyers. The app provides property listings, home appraisals and mortgage applications for mobile devices, the company said. The bank is promoting the new app by offering mortgage rates as low as 1.75 percent, in addition to home loans of up to 80 percent of the property’s value and 40-year terms.
FOOTWEAR
Pou Chen profit rises 6.6%
Footwear manufacturer Pou Chen Corp (寶成工業) yesterday reported that net income for the first three quarters of the year climbed 6.6 percent year-on-year to NT$8.89 billion (US$278.3 million), or earnings per share (EPS) of NT$3.02. Gross margin during the same period increased from 23.2 percent to 25.2 percent on an annual basis, company data showed. The company attributed the improvement to stable growth in its shoemaking business, which accounts for nearly 70 percent of total revenue.
TECHNOLOGY
Synnex posts record profits
Synnex Technology International Corp (聯強), which distributes computers and handsets, yesterday reported a record-high net income of NT$1.22 billion for last quarter, a threefold increase from the NT$301.75 million it made in the same period last year and a 9.9 percent surge from the previous quarter’s NT$1.11 billion, according to the company’s filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday. Synnex attributed the earnings growth to robust sales of information technology products and components, such as gaming computers and virtual-reality-related devices. The launch of Apple Inc’s iPhone 7 series in September also benefited its operations last quarter, the company said in a press statement.
AIRLINES
TransAsia sells V Air assets
TransAsia Airways Corp (復興航空) has disposed of assets previously held under V Air (威航), its budget airline subsidiary, it said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday. TransAsia received one Airbus A321 jet worth NT$1.43 billion from V Air, while booking a loss of NT$16.38 million from the transfer. TransAsia also formed a sale and leaseback arrangement with Dubai Aerospace Enterprise Ltd for six ATR72-600 turboprop aircraft that is expected to net the company about US$8.08 million. V Air ceased operations last month after racking up massive losses since its launch in 2014.
ENERGY
Warm day sparks concern
Yesterday’s warm weather has renewed concerns over power supply, state-run Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) said. Daytime highs reached 30°C, leading to a peak load of 29.245 megawatts and a reserve margin of 7.49 percent at 2:33pm, suggesting high electricity consumption and the company’s relative inability to react to increased demand for power in an emergency, Taipower said.
FOOD
TTFB’s profit up 13.1%
Tai Tong Food & Beverage Group (TTFB, 瓦城泰統集團) yesterday reported that net profit in the first three quarters rose 13.1 percent year-on-year to NT$264 million, or EPS of NT$11.37, supported by its continuous outlet expansion. The company, which operates 100 outlets in Taiwan and China, expects sales to grow significantly by the end of this year on the back of strong seasonal demand.
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