MACROECONOMICS
M1B, M2 growth decelerates
Annual growth of M1B and M2 money supply last month diminished because of slower growth in bank loans and investment, the central bank said yesterday. M1B, a narrow measure of the amount of money in circulation, last month rose 5.07 percent from the same period last year, while the broader M2 — which includes M1B, time deposits, foreign currency deposits and mutual funds — increased 3.56 percent, the central bank said in its monthly report. That compared with annual growth rates of M1B and M2 in January of 6.05 percent and 3.72 percent respectively. For the first two months of this year, the average annual growth rates of M1B and M2 were 5.56 percent and 3.64 percent respectively, the central bank said.
SEMICONDUCTORS
SPIL approves cash dividend
Siliconware Precision Industries Co Ltd (SPIL, 矽品精密), the world’s No. 3 chip tester and packager, yesterday said its board approved a cash dividend of NT$1.75 per common share. That represented a payout ratio of 54.86 percent based on the company’s earnings per share of NT$3.19 last year. The distribution also implies a dividend yield of 3.59 percent compared with the stock’s closing price of NT$48.7 yesterday. The proposal is subject to the approval of shareholders at a general meeting on June 28. Shareholders are also to elect nine new board directors during the annual gathering.
SOLAR POWER
SAS reports NT$1.59bn loss
Local solar wafer maker Sino-American Silicon Products Inc (SAS, 中美晶) yesterday posted a loss of NT$1.59 billion (US$52.15 million) for last year, compared with net profit of NT$535 million in 2015, due to price declines, as well as investment and foreign exchange losses. The company’s board approved a cash dividend of NT$1.5 per common share, and agreed to issue 85 million new shares to replenish operating capital, repay bank loans and buy equipment. The company is scheduled to hold an annual shareholders’ meeting on June 27 to vote on the proposals.
PLASTICS
FPC to pay cash dividend
Formosa Plastics Corp (FPC, 台塑) yesterday said its board approved a cash dividend of NT$4.6 per common share based on last year’s earnings per share of NT$6.17, with a payout ratio of 74.31 percent. The proposed cash dividend, if approved by shareholders on June 13, would be the firm’s largest since 2011’s NT$6.8. The company last year distributed a cash dividend of NT$3.6, with a payout ratio of 74.2 percent. Two of its affiliates controlled by parent Formosa Plastics Group (台塑集團) earlier this month announced their dividend plans. Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said it would distribute NT$6 in cash per share, while Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corp (台灣化纖) said it would offer a cash dividend of NT$5.6 per share. Nan Ya Plastics Corp (南亞塑膠), another affiliate, is scheduled to announce its dividend payout today.
TOOLMAKERS
Tongtai decreases dividend
Tongtai Machine and Tool Co Ltd (東台精機) on Wednesday said its board approved a cash dividend of NT$0.5 per share, less than the NT$0.8 the machine toolmaker distributed last year. Due to foreign exchange losses, net profit fell from NT$323 million in 2015 to NT$65.86 million last year, with earnings per share of NT$0.23, company data showed. Shareholders are scheduled to hold an annual general meeting on June 20 to review the company’s dividend proposal.
Nvidia Corp earned its US$2.2 trillion market cap by producing artificial intelligence (AI) chips that have become the lifeblood powering the new era of generative AI developers from start-ups to Microsoft Corp, OpenAI and Google parent Alphabet Inc. Almost as important to its hardware is the company’s nearly 20 years’ worth of computer code, which helps make competition with the company nearly impossible. More than 4 million global developers rely on Nvidia’s CUDA software platform to build AI and other apps. Now a coalition of tech companies that includes Qualcomm Inc, Google and Intel Corp plans to loosen Nvidia’s chokehold by going
DECOUPLING? In a sign of deeper US-China technology decoupling, Apple has held initial talks about using Baidu’s generative AI technology in its iPhones, the Wall Street Journal said China has introduced guidelines to phase out US microprocessors from Intel Corp and Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) from government PCs and servers, the Financial Times reported yesterday. The procurement guidance also seeks to sideline Microsoft Corp’s Windows operating system and foreign-made database software in favor of domestic options, the report said. Chinese officials have begun following the guidelines, which were unveiled in December last year, the report said. They order government agencies above the township level to include criteria requiring “safe and reliable” processors and operating systems when making purchases, the newspaper said. The US has been aiming to boost domestic semiconductor
ENERGY IMPACT: The electricity rate hike is expected to add about NT$4 billion to TSMC’s electricity bill a year and cut its annual earnings per share by about NT$0.154 Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has left its long-term gross margin target unchanged despite the government deciding on Friday to raise electricity rates. One of the heaviest power consuming manufacturers in Taiwan, TSMC said it always respects the government’s energy policy and would continue to operate its fabs by making efforts in energy conservation. The chipmaker said it has left a long-term goal of more than 53 percent in gross margin unchanged. The Ministry of Economic Affairs concluded a power rate evaluation meeting on Friday, announcing electricity tariffs would go up by 11 percent on average to about NT$3.4518 per kilowatt-hour (kWh)
OPENING ADDRESS: The CEO is to give a speech on the future of high-performance computing and artificial intelligence at the trade show’s opening on June 3, TAITRA said Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) chairperson and chief executive officer Lisa Su (蘇姿丰) is to deliver the opening keynote speech at Computex Taipei this year, the event’s organizer said in a statement yesterday. Su is to give a speech on the future of high-performance computing (HPC) in the artificial intelligence (AI) era to open Computex, one of the world’s largest computer and technology trade events, at 9:30am on June 3, the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) said. Su is to explore how AMD and the company’s strategic technology partners are pushing the limits of AI and HPC, from data centers to