MACHINERY
Global PMX voices optimism
Global PMX Co Ltd (智伸科), which provides mechanical parts for the automotive, storage device and medical segments, yesterday elected new board directors at its annual general meeting and voiced optimism about its gross margin outlook for the rest of this year. Lin Cheng-sheng (林正盛) was elected chairman, replacing Lin En-tao (林恩道), who is to serve as the firm’s president, Global PMX said. Gross margin, which improved to 32.87 percent last quarter, compared with 28.83 percent in the same period last year, is expected to further increase due to a better product mix and improved production processes, it added.
CHIPMAKERS
Nanya sells Micron shares
DRAM chipmaker Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技) yesterday said it has sold 1.26 million shares of Micron Technology Inc for US$40 million to replenish its operating capital and repay debt. The sale is to contribute about US$18 million to net profit this quarter, the firm said. Nanya president Lee Pei-ing (李培瑛) told a teleconference that the transaction would not affect technological cooperation between the companies. Nanya holds a 5.11 percent stake in Micron after the sale, the firm said.
INVESTMENT
Overseas investment jumps
Excluding China, profits derived from overseas investment in the nation’s listed companies registered a 73.06 percent annual rise to NT$100.2 billion (US$3.3 billion) in the first quarter of the year, Financial Supervisory Commission data showed. The gain was primarily driven by a recovery in the cargo shipping industry, as companies achieved sales growth while containing costs, the commission said on Thursday. However, appreciation of the New Taiwan dollar pushed down aggregate overseas (excluding China) investment by the nation’s 1,245 listed firms 0.5 percent year-on-year to NT$5.689 trillion in the first quarter, it added. Listed firms’ aggregate investment in China totaled NT$2.224 trillion, down 2.5 percent from a year earlier, it said.
INVESTMENT
Brokers punished over bonds
A total of 14 local securities brokerages were penalized from 2013 to 2015 for irregularities related to the issuance of convertible bonds by listed domestic firms, the Financial Supervisory Commission said on Thursday. The brokerages — including Concord Securities Co (康和證券), Mega Securities Co (兆豐證券), Taishin Securities Co (台新證券), Fubon Securities Co (富邦證券) and Cathay Securities Co (國泰證券) — were found to have colluded with firms to sell convertible bonds to a number of company insiders, contravening internal control rules, the commission said. Last month, the commission imposed a six-month suspension on Concord Securities chairman Gordon Yeh (葉公亮) for violations of the Securities and Exchange Act (證交法) over convertible bonds issued by game developer XPEC Entertainment Inc (樂陞科技).
FOREIGN EXCHANGE
Yuan deposits rise slightly
Chinese yuan deposits last month increased 0.1 percent month-on-month, ending a downward trend seen in the four months prior, central bank data showed. Yuan deposits last month rose 309 million yuan (US$45.35 million) to 308.279 billion yuan, the central bank said on Thursday. Deposits at domestic banking units fell 0.02 percent monthly to 275.32 billion yuan, while yuan deposits at overseas banking units rose 1.08 percent to 32.959 billion yuan, it said.
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