Formosa Plastics Group (FPG, 台塑集團), the nation’s largest industrial conglomerate, yesterday said net profits of its four main companies grew 46.8 percent last year from the previous year, on the back of robust demand for petrochemical products.
The group’s four major units — Formosa Petrochemical Corp (FPCC, 台塑石化), Formosa Plastics Corp (台灣塑膠), Formosa Chemicals and Fibre Corp (台灣化學纖維) and Nan Ya Plastics Corp (南亞塑膠) — last year saw their combined net income reach NT$207.7 billion (US$6.5 billion), with total sales dropping 8.9 percent to NT$1.32 trillion from the previous year.
FPCC, the nation’s only listed oil refiner, posted the highest earnings growth among the four major units.
The oil refiner reported a 60.1 percent year-on-year rise in net profits of NT$75.7 billion, while sales dropped 13.2 percent annually to NT$546.1 billion.
Company officials attributed the performance to higher utilization rates and favorable product mixes, saying that falling international oil prices did not hurt the group’s annual profitability.
International crude oil prices last year slid by US$9.60 per barrel from the previous year, dragging down FPCC’s product prices by an average of US$12.30 per barrel, FPCC president Tsao Minh (曹明) said at a joint earnings conference in Taipei yesterday.
Commenting on its sales outlook for this year, Formosa Plastics chairman Jason Lin (林健男) said that he expects sales momentum to pick up after the Lunar New Year holiday lull, due to improving utilization rates.
Formosa Plastics, the group’s flagship company, is targeting an average utilization rate of 90 percent for this year, compared with last year’s 87 percent, Lin told reporters.
“The pace of recovery in the global economy remains stable and we hope to expand into the Indian and African market’s this year,” he added.
Nan Ya Plastics chairman Wu Chia-chau (吳嘉昭) also gave a positive sales outlook for this year, saying that soaring demand for copper foil would benefit the company’s revenue in the near term.
Growing demand for electric vehicles will continue to boost demand for copper foil, as the material is a crucial component for manufacturers of electric cars, Wu said.
“Nan Ya’s net profit [for last year] was mainly supported by electric material-related business,” he added.
The other three units also reported an increase in aggregate net profits last year.
Formosa Plastics, the nation’s largest producer of polyvinyl chloride, reported a 27.1 percent annual increase in net income last year to NT$39.3 billion while sales declined 5.9 percent annually to NT$180.2 billion.
Formosa Chemicals, which produces aromatics and styrenics, reported a net profit of NT$43.9 billion, representing a 59.1 percent year-on-year increase, while aggregate sales declined 3.1 percent to NT$319.2 billion.
Nan Ya Plastics, the nation’s largest plastics maker, saw its net profits reach NT$48.8 billion last year, up 36.6 percent from a year earlier, with sales dropping 8.2 percent to NT$275.3 billion.
FPG said it would give its about 30,000 employees bonuses equal to six times their monthly salary this year, as the four major companies reported earnings of NT$7.84 billion on average last year.
SEEKING CLARITY: Washington should not adopt measures that create uncertainties for ‘existing semiconductor investments,’ TSMC said referring to its US$165 billion in the US Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) told the US that any future tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors could reduce demand for chips and derail its pledge to increase its investment in Arizona. “New import restrictions could jeopardize current US leadership in the competitive technology industry and create uncertainties for many committed semiconductor capital projects in the US, including TSMC Arizona’s significant investment plan in Phoenix,” the chipmaker wrote in a letter to the US Department of Commerce. TSMC issued the warning in response to a solicitation for comments by the department on a possible tariff on semiconductor imports by US President Donald Trump’s
The government has launched a three-pronged strategy to attract local and international talent, aiming to position Taiwan as a new global hub following Nvidia Corp’s announcement that it has chosen Taipei as the site of its Taiwan headquarters. Nvidia cofounder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Monday last week announced during his keynote speech at the Computex trade show in Taipei that the Nvidia Constellation, the company’s planned Taiwan headquarters, would be located in the Beitou-Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區) in Taipei. Huang’s decision to establish a base in Taiwan is “primarily due to Taiwan’s talent pool and its strength in the semiconductor
An earnings report from semiconductor giant and artificial intelligence (AI) bellwether Nvidia Corp takes center stage for Wall Street this week, as stocks hit a speed bump of worries over US federal deficits driving up Treasury yields. US equities pulled back last week after a torrid rally, as investors turned their attention to tax and spending legislation poised to swell the US government’s US$36 trillion in debt. Long-dated US Treasury yields rose amid the fiscal worries, with the 30-year yield topping 5 percent and hitting its highest level since late 2023. Stocks were dealt another blow on Friday when US President Donald
UNCERTAINTY: Investors remain worried that trade negotiations with Washington could go poorly, given Trump’s inconsistency on tariffs in his second term, experts said The consumer confidence index this month fell for a ninth consecutive month to its lowest level in 13 months, as global trade uncertainties and tariff risks cloud Taiwan’s economic outlook, a survey released yesterday by National Central University found. The biggest decline came from the timing for stock investments, which plunged 11.82 points to 26.82, underscoring bleak investor confidence, it said. “Although the TAIEX reclaimed the 21,000-point mark after the US and China agreed to bury the hatchet for 90 days, investors remain worried that the situation would turn sour later,” said Dachrahn Wu (吳大任), director of the university’s Research Center for