TELECOMS
Profit to fall: Taiwan Mobile
Taiwan Mobile Corp (台灣大哥大) yesterday forecast a 6 percent annual decline in net income for this year to NT$14.38 billion (US$459 million), or earnings per share of NT$5.28. Sales are expected to rise 2 percent annually to NT$118.85 billion, Taiwan’s second-biggest mobile carrier said in its earnings guidance. Last year, net income dropped 2 percent annually to NT$15.32 billion, or earnings per share of NT$5.63, reaching 109 percent of the company’s target, Taiwan Mobile said, adding that sales last year rose 7 percent annually to NT$116.65 billion, reaching 108 percent of its target. The company’s board has approved a NT$8.5 billion capital expenditure plan for this year, saying that its free cash flow has maintained growth, despite the spending.
PHARMACEUTICALS
OBI-822 gets China approval
OBI Pharma Inc (台灣浩鼎) yesterday said that OBI-822, its breast cancer vaccine, has received approval from Chinese authorities to commence phase III clinical trials in that country, following a four-year wait. The trials are to involve 414 patients and are expected to be completed within 24 month, the company said. In 2012, the company had applied for fast-track approval in China via a cross-strait agreement aimed at cutting redundant studies, but the plans to expedite commercialization fell through as the China Food and Drug Administration did not begin a review of the company’s application until 2015.
PANEL MAKERS
Power outage slows Innolux
The electricity supply at Southern Taiwan Science Park was unexpectedly interrupted yesterday morning, affecting Innolux Corp’s (群創) 6G and 7.5G display production lines, the Central News Agency (CNA) quoted the company as saying. Innolux activated its emergency backup power supply units and evacuated employees at the plant over safety concerns, CNA said, adding that Innolux resumed operations in the afternoon. Innolux said the incident slightly affected its production, but it would work extra shifts to ensure shipments will not be delayed.
ENERGY
Swancor unit signs deal
Resin maker Swancor Holding Co Ltd (上緯) yesterday said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange that a subsidiary has signed an agreement with Sydney-based Macquarie Capital and Denmark-headquartered DONG Energy A/S for an offshore wind farm project named Formosa I. Macquarie Capital and DONG Energy would acquire 50 percent and 35 percent ownership respectively in the project after receiving approval from the Investment Commission and EU regulators. Shares in Swancor on Tuesday dipped 1.36 percent to NT$72.6 in Taipei trading.
FOOD AND BEVERAGE
TTFB opens new restaurant
Restaurant operator Tai Tong Food & Beverage Group (TTFB, 瓦城泰統集團) yesterday opened the first outlet of its new Chinese cuisine brand Rice Bar (時時香) in Taichung. The group operates six restaurant chains with more than 100 outlets in Taiwan and China, compared with 90 outlets it operated at the end of 2015, company data showed. The new brand features 20 types of rice to showcase the staple ingredient of Chinese cuisine, the firm said. The company reported that sales last year rose 11.72 percent to NT$3.85 billion. The company gave a upbeat outlook on sales this year on the back of its new restaurant and brand expansions.
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
FUTURE PLANS: Although the electric vehicle market is getting more competitive, Hon Hai would stick to its goal of seizing a 5 percent share globally, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), a major iPhone assembler and supplier of artificial intelligence (AI) servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s chips, yesterday said it has introduced a rotating chief executive structure as part of the company’s efforts to cultivate future leaders and to enhance corporate governance. The 50-year-old contract electronics maker reported sizable revenue of NT$6.16 trillion (US$189.67 billion) last year. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has been under the control of one man almost since its inception. A rotating CEO system is a rarity among Taiwanese businesses. Hon Hai has given leaders of the company’s six