PHARMACEUTICALS
TaiMed inks distribution deal
TaiMed Biologics Inc (中裕新藥) yesterday said that it has expanded a distribution contract for its new HIV/AIDS drug, TMB-355, with a Canadian partner to include Europe as well as North America. TaiMed first signed a contract in March last year to have Canadian company Theratechnologies Inc serve as its exclusive distribution partner in Canada and the US, and the contract was expanded yesterday to cover a number of European markets as well as Israel. Under the revised contract, TaiMed receives royalties of 57 percent on sales of TMB-355 in Europe, up from the 52 percent the two companies agreed in March last year.
FINANCIAL SERVICES
Taishin denies mulling bid
Taishin Financial Holding Co (台新金控) yesterday denied a media report that the company is mulling its brokerage unit acquiring Ta Chong Securities Co Ltd (大眾證券) at NT$11 per share in a NT$4.2 billion (US$136 million) cash deal. The acquisition is part of the bank-focused conglomerate’s bid to diversify its earnings drivers, sources close to the matter said in a report published by the Chinese-language Economic Daily News. Should the deal go through, Taishin Securities Co’s (台新證券) ranking among its local peers would rise from No. 32 to No. 24, industry observers said. The acquisition would represent a 11.4 percent premium after Ta Chong Securities shares closed at NT$9.87 on Friday last week. Ta Chong Securities shares yesterday gained 2.84 percent to close at NT$10.15 in Taipei trading.
CAMERA LENSES
Largan sales decline 8%
Largan Precision Co (大立光), the nation’s leading smartphone camera lens supplier, posted sales of NT$3.45 billion last month, an 8 percent month-on-month decline, according to a statement posted on the company’s Web site on Sunday. However, the figure was still 70 percent higher than the same period last year, the company said. Last month, 10 megapixel and above lenses accounted for between 70 and 80 percent of the company’s total shipments, 8 megapixel lenses contributed between 10 and 20 percent, while lenses with resolutions of fewer than 5 megapixels contributed 10 percent, according to a shipment breakdown. Total sales for the first two months of the year grew 38 percent from the same period last year to NT$7.22 billion, the company said.
MEMORY CHIPS
Macronix to cut its capital
Memorychip manufacturer Macronix International Co (旺宏電子) yesterday said its board has approved a proposal to halve its capital in order to improve the company’s financial structure. After the reduction, the company would have 1.81 billion common shares, according to a company filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange. The share reduction plan is subject to a vote at the firm’s annual shareholders’ meeting on May 26. Macronix still has NT$18.65 billion in accumulated losses, despite two consecutive profitable quarters at the end of last year.
COMPUTERS
Advantech approves payout
Advantech Co (研華), the world’s largest industrial computer maker, yesterday said its board has approved a NT$6.3 cash dividend. That represents a payout ratio of 70.31 percent compared with its earnings of NT$8.96 per share last year. In total, the company made a net profit of NT$5.69 billion last year. The company yesterday posted revenue of NT$2.96 billion for last month, a 9.38 percent year-on-year increase from NT$2.7 billion.
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