SEMICONDUCTORS
Macronix sets dividend
Memorychip maker Macronix International Co (旺宏電子) on Friday said its board had approved the distribution of a cash dividend of NT$1 per common share after the firm swung into the black last year after five unprofitable years. The proposed dividend, which would be the first since 2012, represents a 2.09 percent dividend yield based on the company’s stock price of NT$47.9. Macronix made NT$5.52 billion (US$188.84 million) in net profit last year, with earnings per share of NT$3.12. The board also approved a program to raise funds by issuing 360 million common shares among overseas investors, the firm said.
ELECTRONICS
PCB industry sees growth
Total production value of the nation’s printed circuit board (PCB) industry is expected to increase 4 percent this year, following 9.5 percent growth to NT$610 billion last year, Taiwan Printed Circuit Association chairman Rick Wu (吳永輝) said on Friday at a public event. Wu, who is president of flexible PCB producer Career Technology Co (嘉聯益), thanked the association’s members for supporting it as it enters its 20th year. Issues such as “smart manufacturing” and “global competence” would be key to the industry’s future, he said.
FINANCE
Promotion, dividend set
Shin Kong Financial Holding Co (新光金控) on Friday said that it had appointed senior vice president Huang Min-yi (黃敏義) to serve as president, replacing Catherine Lee (李紀珠), who would continue to serve as vice chairman. It also announced that its board had approved the distribution of a cash dividend of NT$0.35 per common share and plus a stock dividend of 1.5 percent. The cash dividend will be the firm’s highest in 10 years.
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,
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