AUTO PARTS
Cub sees net income drop
Cub Elecparts Inc (為升), which makes electric switches and electric sensors for cars, yesterday reported that net income last year decreased 9.3 percent year-on-year to NT$1.01 billion (US$34.45 million), with earnings per share (EPS) of NT$10, down from NT$12.14 the previous year. Gross margin also dropped by 1.04 percentage points to 53.25 percent, while revenue rose 3 percent to NT$3.52 billion, the company said. The company said its board has approved the distribution of a cash dividend of NT$8.8 per common share, with a payout ratio of 88 percent.
SEMICONDUCTORS
Holtek plans NT$4.1 payout
Holtek Semiconductor Inc (盛群半導體), the nation’s largest designer of microcontroller units for consumer electronics, yesterday said its board has approved a cash dividend of NT$4.1 per common share, representing a payout ratio of 100 percent based on last year’s EPS of NT$4.1. Based on yesterday’s closing share price of NT$81.7, Holtek’s proposed cash dividend translates into a dividend yield of 5.02 percent. The company is to hold an annual general meeting on May 28 in Hsinchu Science Park (新竹科學園區), where shareholders are to vote on the dividend proposal.
TEXTILES
Tah Tong banks on land sale
Tah Tong Textile Co Ltd (大東紡織), which makes yarns and fabrics, expects to book a real-estate disposal gain of NT$1.1 billion in the second quarter of this year at the earliest from the sale of a plot of land in Taichung, the company said yesterday in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange. Tah Tong said it would sell the land for NT$1.9 billion to a subsidiary of Yi Jinn Industrial Co Ltd (宜進), another Taiwanese yarn maker. The gain from the sale would be used to replenish operating capital and repay bank debts, it said. Tah Tong chairman Steven Chen (陳修忠) said the sale, coupled with expanded production at the company’s Vietnamese plant, would help it swing into profit this year.
SHIPPING
Evergreen goes paperless
Evergreen Marine Corp (長榮海運), Taiwan’s largest container shipping company, yesterday announced that it has upgraded to a paperless bill of lading and dispatch documentation system by partnering with London-headquartered software solutions provider Bolero International Ltd. The system enhances connectivity for exporters and importers with banks, insurers, regulators, customs and port authorities, Evergreen said in a statement. It is expected to speed up cash flow and processing times, while helping to avoid loss, fraudulent copying and errors that are associated with paper documents, as well as provide encrypted data transmission, it said.
SEMICONDUCTORS
Marketech decides dividend
Marketech International Corp (帆宣系統科技), which provides facility engineering and equipment to semiconductor and flat-panel manufacturers, on Wednesday said its board has approved a cash dividend of NT$2.5, based on last year’s EPS of NT$3.77 — its highest in 13 years. Citing institutional investors’ estimates, the Chinese-language Commercial Times yesterday said Marketech’s EPS might top NT$4 and reach a high of NT$4.5 this year, as the firm’s orders on hand for this year have exceeded NT$16 billion and it has tapped into related equipment supply chains with organic LED panels and ultraviolet lithography systems.
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