TRADE
Brexit to have limited impact
The Bureau of Foreign Trade yesterday said that Brexit would have a limited effect on Taiwan’s exports, as Britain represents only 1 percent of the nation’s overall trade. Meanwhile, the Financial Supervisory Commission said that Brexit-related exposure faced by Taiwanese financial companies totaled about NT$1.31 trillion (US$41.47 billion), of which insurers have the highest exposure at NT$989.6 billion, 4.87 percent of insurers’ capital. Banks have the second-highest exposure at NT$169.5 billion, 0.38 percent of their assets, of which NT$114.4 billion are investments and NT$55.1 billion are loans, the commission said. Equities and futures brokerages have a combined exposure of NT$17.51 billion, 3.63 percent of the two industries’ net value, it added.
ENERGY
FTC approves CPC purchase
The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) yesterday approved CPC Corp, Taiwan’s (CPC, 台灣中油) NT$2.28 billion bid to acquire Tung Ting Gas Corp (東鼎液化瓦斯). The two companies are to merge upon the deal’s completion, with CPC designated as the surviving entity. Approval was granted as the competitive landscape of the nation’s liquefied natural gas market would not be affected, the commission said, adding that it has classified the deal as a vertical merger between different industry segments.
SHIPPING
Supply glut expected to ease
A supply glut that has tormented the global container shipping industry is expected to diminish this year, Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp (陽明海運) said yesterday. Globally, total cargo shipping capacity growth is expected to reach 3.4 percent this year, down from a previous estimate of 4.8 percent, Yang Ming chairman Bronson Hsieh (謝志堅) said. With demand growth holding steady at 1.6 percent, shippers are anticipating freight rates to recover throughout this year, he said, adding that freight rates for some routes between Asia and Europe have surged by 100 percent, while capacity has grown by only 1.6 percent.
CHIPMAKERS
Nanya sells overseas bonds
DRAM chipmaker Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技) yesterday said it has raised US$500 million through sales of overseas corporate bonds. The bonds are to mature on Jan. 24, 2022, and were issued as zero-coupon and with a 1.75 percent yield per annum, Nanya said, adding that investors have a one-time option to put the bonds at a yield-to-put of 1.75 percent per annum on Jan. 24, 2020. The bonds can be converted into newly issued common shares of Nanya at an initial conversion price of NT$52.47 per common share, the firm said, adding that the transaction is expected to settle and close on Tuesday next week. The chipmaker plans to use the net proceeds to fund a technology upgrade to a 20-nanometer process, it said.
GARMENTS
Makalot sales fall 5.27%
Makalot Industrial Co (聚陽), a garment manufacturer for global clothing brands, yesterday said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange that sales for last year would decline 5.27 percent to NT$22.13 billion. Pre-tax profit for last year plunged 29.08 percent to NT$1.91 billion, from NT$2.69 billion in 2015, due to lower product prices and weakening demand from its major global brand customers, Makalot said. Makalot shares yesterday fell 0.82 percent to NT$121 in Taipei trading.
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],”