FOOD AND BEVERAGE
Afternoon Tea to withdraw
President Chain Store Corp (PCSC, 統一超商), the nation’s largest convenience store chain operator, yesterday confirmed that one of its food and beverage reinvestment units is to withdraw from the domestic market. The firm said it has decided not to renew Afternoon Tea Taiwan Corp’s (統一午茶風光) contract with Tokyo-based Sazaby League Ltd this year, citing a deteriorating business operating environment. Introduced into the local market in 2007, Afternoon Tea Taiwan has 15 outlets nationwide, PCSC said, declining to provide an exact date for the unit’s exit.
ENERGY
Taipower reports losses
State-run Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) yesterday said that it had slipped into a loss in the first four months of the year due to a spike in the cost of power generation. The company posted NT$5.4 billion (US$179.3 million) in losses from January to last month, compared with NT$17.8 billion in pretax profit in the same period last year. The losses in the first four months of the year were due to higher costs for fuel and natural gas to generate electricity amid increased demand and a shortfall in nuclear power supply, Taipower said, adding that its bottom line was also squeezed by a more than 26 percent increase in coal prices. It attributed the increased electricity demand to relatively higher temperatures so far this year. Taipower said it had been profitable from 2014 to last year, adding that pretax profit totaled NT$39.61 billion for the whole of last year. Taipower was the only one of the four enterprises run by the Ministry of Economic Affairs to report a loss for the four-month period.
PETROLEUM
CPC profit up on crude costs
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) yesterday said it has benefited from higher international crude oil prices and generated more than NT$10 billion in pretax profit in the first four months of the year, outperforming other companies also run by the Ministry of Economic Affairs. It reported pretax profit of NT$10.89 billion for the four-month period, a sharp rise from NT$4.2 billion in the same period last year, citing an increase in international crude oil prices that boosted its product prices. CPC last year posted NT$35.4 billion in pretax profit and reported a loss of NT$1.4 billion in 2015. Separately, Taiwan Sugar Corp (Taisugar, 台糖) posted NT$1.46 billion in pretax profit for the four-month period, down from NT$2.32 billion a year earlier. Taisugar cited a decline in revenue from property development for the yearly decline. Meanwhile, Taiwan Water Corp (台水) reported a year-on-year increase from NT$195 million to NT$525 million in pretax profit in the first four months of the year, amid greater water consumption in the industrial sector. Taisugar and Taiwan Water are also run by the economic ministry.
SEMICONDUCTORS
ASE to proceed with merger
Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc (ASE, 日月光半導體), the world’s biggest chip tester and packager, yesterday said it would push ahead with a merger with local rival Siliconware Precision Industries Co (矽品精密), as the US Federal Trade Commission does not oppose the combination. The commission has wrapped up its investigations of the merger and decided that no further action is needed, ASE said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange. The decision would help remove hurdles to the merger agreement inked in June last year. The proposed merger has been met with either approval or a neutral view from competition bodies in Taiwan and China.
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