Solar cell maker Neo Solar Power Energy Corp (新日光能源) yesterday said it has received government support to finance a three-way merger in the latest restructuring efforts — worth NT$5 billion (US$168.92 million) — to boost profitability by penetrating all levels of the solar supply chain.
It is a strategy created by Neo Solar and local partners Gintech Energy Corp (昱晶能源) and Solartech Energy Corp (昇陽光電) to counteract price volatility in the solar cell market by rapidly diversifying into a lucrative solar system installation business.
“We are not forming a big solar cell alliance,” Neo Solar chairman Sam Hong (洪傳獻) told a media briefing yesterday. “We are creating a different business model — a winning formula — via this three-in-one merger.”
Photo: CNA
Within five years after the merger, the new entity, which is to be named United Renewable Energy Co (UREC, 聯合再生), seeks to generate between NT$90 billion and NT$100 billion in revenue, almost doubling current revenue of NT$50 billion, Neo Solar said.
The solar system installation business would be the greatest source of revenue at about 50 percent, while solar cell and solar module businesses would constitute the remaining 50 percent, the company said.
UREC aims to build solar power plants with a capacity of 1 gigawatt (GW) each year past the initial five-year period, said Gintech president Pan Wen-whe (潘文輝), who is to serve as chief executive officer.
The merger should be completed in the third quarter of this year, Hong said, adding that he did not expect the merger to face major obstacles from the world’s competition watchdogs as the new company would only install 5GW of solar cell capacity a year.
Hong’s remarks about creating a new business model is aimed at alleviating public concern that the government’s investment might end up with a zero return as all three solar cell makers are struggling to make a profit amid steep pricing competition from China and anti-dumping probes from the global community.
The government might inject more capital than the NT$4 billion fund into UREC through the government’s National Development Fund and government affiliate Yao Hua Glass Co (耀華玻璃).
The government fund and Yao Hua would each hold through a private placement less than 6.5 percent of the company’s shares, because the government wants to play a smaller role than UREC’s biggest private shareholder, Delta Electronics Inc (台達電), which is to hold a 6.5 percent stake.
UREC also plans to raise additional funds by issuing new shares.
The company is to concentrate on installing solar systems for clients, while manufacturing solar cells, solar modules and solar wafers at lower costs due to falling raw material sourcing costs and better productivity, Hong said.
Real estate agent and property developer JSL Construction & Development Co (愛山林) led the average compensation rankings among companies listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) last year, while contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) finished 14th. JSL Construction paid its employees total average compensation of NT$4.78 million (US$159,701), down 13.5 percent from a year earlier, but still ahead of the most profitable listed tech giants, including TSMC, TWSE data showed. Last year, the average compensation (which includes salary, overtime, bonuses and allowances) paid by TSMC rose 21.6 percent to reach about NT$3.33 million, lifting its ranking by 10 notches
Popular vape brands such as Geek Bar might get more expensive in the US — if you can find them at all. Shipments of vapes from China to the US ground to a near halt last month from a year ago, official data showed, hit by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs and a crackdown on unauthorized e-cigarettes in the world’s biggest market for smoking alternatives. That includes Geek Bar, a brand of flavored vapes that is not authorized to sell in the US, but which had been widely available due to porous import controls. One retailer, who asked not to be named, because
SEASONAL WEAKNESS: The combined revenue of the top 10 foundries fell 5.4%, but rush orders and China’s subsidies partially offset slowing demand Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) further solidified its dominance in the global wafer foundry business in the first quarter of this year, remaining far ahead of its closest rival, Samsung Electronics Co, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. TSMC posted US$25.52 billion in sales in the January-to-March period, down 5 percent from the previous quarter, but its market share rose from 67.1 percent the previous quarter to 67.6 percent, TrendForce said in a report. While smartphone-related wafer shipments declined in the first quarter due to seasonal factors, solid demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) devices and urgent TV-related orders
MINERAL DIPLOMACY: The Chinese commerce ministry said it approved applications for the export of rare earths in a move that could help ease US-China trade tensions Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰) is today to meet a US delegation for talks in the UK, Beijing announced on Saturday amid a fragile truce in the trade dispute between the two powers. He is to visit the UK from yesterday to Friday at the invitation of the British government, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. He and US representatives are to cochair the first meeting of the US-China economic and trade consultation mechanism, it said. US President Donald Trump on Friday announced that a new round of trade talks with China would start in London beginning today,
RSS