Shares in Tainan-based Air Asia Co Ltd (亞洲航空) rose 51.36 percent from its initial public offering price to close at NT$33.3 on its debut on the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday.
The aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) company, which was first listed on the over-the-counter Taipei Exchange’s Emerging Stock Board a year ago, said that recently awarded military contracts would make up the bulk of its sales this year.
Military contracts are to make up about 80 percent of sales, up from 70 percent a year ago, chairman Lu Tien-lin (盧天麟) said.
The company can count on as steady sales contributions the resumption of government-owned and contractor-operated (GOCO) contracts for aircraft and helicopters, which elapsed last year, Lu said.
GOCO operations refer to manufacturing plants being owned by governments, but operated by private companies under contract to the government.
He also outlined plans for the company to become a diversified MRO company with revenue streams in both the private and military sectors.
The company is hoping to tap into the rapid growth of low-cost carriers (LCC) by specializing in servicing the single-aisle regional jets deployed on short-haul flights, Lu said, noting that Air Asia has gained certification for the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320.
Many Asian LCCs are not able to service their own fleets and the company is hoping to set up overseas subsidiaries to tap into regional markets as part of the government’s New Southbound Policy, Lu said.
The firm has not yet released financial results for last year.
Jih Sun Securities Investment Consulting Co (日盛投顧) yesterday estimated the company’s net income to have dipped 12.1 percent annually to NT$172 million (US$5.87 million) last year and sales to have fallen 11.55 percent to NT$2.42 billion as its military contracts elapsed.
However, the consulting company gave a positive outlook for the company’s earnings and margin this year.
Air Asia’s price-to-earnings ratio is estimated at about 14, which is comparable with the valuation of its peers in the local aerospace sector, Jih Sun said in a note.
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
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
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