BANKING
Average borrowing costs fall
The average borrowing costs for five major state-run banks last month stood at 1.36 percent, down 0.115 percentage points from May, as demand for working capital among local firms slowed, the central bank said yesterday. The five lenders are Bank of Taiwan (臺灣銀行), Taiwan Cooperative Bank (合庫銀行), Land Bank of Taiwan (土地銀行), Hua Nan Commercial Bank (華南銀行) and First Commercial Bank (第一銀行), the central bank said. Excluding government loans, the interest rates averaged 1.387 percent, down 0.128 percentage points from May, it added.
CHEMICALS
Nan Pao raises NT$540m
Nan Pao Resins Chemical Co Ltd (南寶), which makes adhesives and powder coatings, yesterday made its debut on the Emerging Stock Market, with shares closing 4 percent lower at NT$205. The Tainan-based company has a paid-in capital of NT$1.065 billion (US$35 million). The firm said it has raised NT$540 million in its initial public offering through the issuance of 3 million shares. Nan Pao last year posted net income of NT$1.33 billion, a 28.4 percent annual surge, or earnings per share of NT$13.59, bolstered by increasing demand in Southeast Asia.
CELLPHONES
Ichia reports pretax losses
Handset keypad maker Ichia Technologies Inc (毅嘉科技) yesterday reported pretax losses of NT$81 million in the second quarter of this year, or losses per share of NT$0.24. The company attributed the quarterly weakness to declining gross margin due to a less favorable product mix, higher labor costs and unfavorable foreign exchange rates. The company reported gross margin of 1 percent in the second quarter and 2 percent in the first half. From January to last month, the company posted pretax losses of NT$187 million, or NT$0.55 per share, it said in a statement.
SECURITIES
Ex-CSRC officials to be tried
Former China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) assistant chairman Zhang Yujun (張育軍) is to be prosecuted for serious violations of discipline, the Chinese Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) said yesterday. Zhang, who was put under investigation in 2015 after a stock market crash, is to be prosecuted for offenses including obstruction of an investigation and “disturbing the order of capital markets,” the CCDI said in a statement on its Web site. Former CSRC vice chairman Yao Gang (姚剛) is also to be prosecuted, the CCDI said on Thursday.
CHINA
PBOC boosts cash supply
The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) used its open-market operations to boost the supply of cash in the financial system after demand driven by tax and dividend payments pushed the overnight money rate to a four-week high. The central bank yesterday added a net 40 billion yuan (US$5.91 billion) through reverse-repurchase agreements, bringing this week’s injections to 510 billion yuan — the most in six months. The central bank on Wednesday reportedly also added funds through some commercial lenders. The nation’s interbank funding costs have risen this week. The overnight repurchase rate, a gauge of interbank funding availability, rose 21 basis points this week through Thursday, climbing to 2.81 percent, the highest since June 22. The seven-day rate added 10 basis points to 2.85 percent. The contracts were at 2.74 percent and 2.91 percent respectively in Shanghai yesterday.
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
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
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