AUTOMAKERS
Tainan supercharger opened
Electric automaker Tesla Inc yesterday launched its second supercharger station in the nation at Chimei Museum (奇美博物館) in Tainan. Compared with its usual charging stations, superchargers are set up in strategic locations and allow drivers to replenish batteries in minutes during long-distance road trips, Tesla said in a statement. The US company — which has more than 80 charging stations nationwide — said another supercharger is expected to begin operations in Taichung next week. Tesla said it is planning to install more destination charging stations at department stores and theme parks across the nation this year, but did not elaborate.
BANKING
King’s Town reports theft
King’s Town Bank (京城銀行), a medium-sized bank based in Tainan, yesterday said that it has alerted regulators and authorities that one of its financial planners has been misappropriating clients’ funds for as long as a decade, resulting in NT$26.5 million (US$870,079) in losses for about 20 clients. The Financial Supervisory Commission said that the lender could face penalties for lapses in internal controls. The theft was discovered on Thursday last week and a report to the commission was made the following day, the commission said. In most such cases, local banks have been ordered to reimburse theft-related losses, the commission said.
BANKING
Shangmao loan signed
Taiwan Business Bank (臺灣中小企銀) yesterday signed a NT$1.05 billion syndicated loan with Kaohsiung-based Shangmao Enterprise Co (商茂企業) to allow the firm more financial leeway to carry out plans to help young people build careers. A new unit of E United Group (義聯集團), Shangmao is intended to join forces with I-Shou University to support career-building for students. With a focus on a “maker” culture and education, Shangmao said it would acquire up-to-date digital facilities and provide courses on patent applications, brand-building, sales channel establishment and business operations.
OFFICE EQUIPMENT
Aurora registers capital plan
Office appliance sales agent Aurora Group (震旦行) has completed the registration process for new paid-in capital following a capital reduction scheme, part of the company’s efforts to boost efficiency. The company said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday that it has reduced capital by NT$1.01 billion, or 30 percent, to boost return on equity. Aurora’s paid-in capital was NT$2.36 billion yesterday, with a net value of NT$31.49 per share, compared with NT$22.04 at the end of first quarter, the company said. Shareholders are to receive NT$3 per share due to the capital reduction, it said.
REAL ESTATE
Association tips increase
Transactions of residential and commercial properties could reach 260,000 this year, the Chinese Association of Real Estate Brokers said yesterday, citing strong sales momentum in the first half. Total transactions in the six special municipalities reached 20,351 units last month, up 15.7 percent month-on-month and 19.1 percent year-on-year, the association said, citing government statistics. In the first half, total transactions in the six special municipalities were 99,000 units, up 20.7 percent from a year earlier, it said. Transactions are forecast to be 255,000 to 270,000 units for the whole of this year, a 4 percent to 10 percent increase from last year.
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: The US company could switch orders from TSMC to alternative suppliers, but that would lower chip quality, CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), whose products have become the hottest commodity in the technology world, on Wednesday said that the scramble for a limited amount of supply has frustrated some customers and raised tensions. “The demand on it is so great, and everyone wants to be first and everyone wants to be most,” he told the audience at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc technology conference in San Francisco. “We probably have more emotional customers today. Deservedly so. It’s tense. We’re trying to do the best we can.” Huang’s company is experiencing strong demand for its latest generation of chips, called
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure