ENERGY
Solar merger approved
The Fair Trade Commission yesterday approved Neo Solar Energy Corp’s (新日光) merger with local solar cell makers Gintech Energy Corp (昱晶) and Solartech Energy Corp (昇陽光電), saying the deal would not harm market competition. The three-in-one merger, which earlier received approval from competition watchdogs in China and Germany, would help Neo Solar slightly increase its market share without hindering already-intensive competition, the commission said. There is also no major concern about potential price fixing, as solar prices are largely regulated worldwide, it said. About 90 percent of solar cells made by local firms are exported abroad, it added.
ENTERTAINMENT
OMG probed over patents
Online game maker MacroWell OMG Digital Entertainment Co (OMG, 歐買尬) yesterday confirmed that investigators searched the company’s offices earlier in the day over patent infringement allegations. The company said it would fully cooperate and that it would not affect its business.
RESTAURANTS
Hi-Lai approves dividend
Hi-Lai Foods Co Ltd (漢來美食) yesterday said its board has approved a proposal to distribute a cash dividend of NT$6.6 per share and a stock dividend of 3 percent this year, after reporting earnings per share of NT$7.47 for last year, representing a payout ratio of 92.37 percent. First-quarter revenue rose 7.56 percent from a year earlier to NT$979 million (US$33.3 million), a record high.
ELECTRONICS
Elan to slash capitalization
Elan Microelectronics Corp (義隆電子), which supplies touchpad controller and fingerprint sensors, on Tuesday announced that its board has agreed to cut the company’s capitalization by 30 percent to adjust its capital structure and return NT$3 in cash per share to shareholders. With a proposed cash dividend of NT$2.58 per common share, the company plans to distribute a total of NT$5.58 per share, to be approved at an annual shareholders’ meeting on June 11. The capital reduction plan would see the company’s capitalization drop to NT$3.04 billion from NT$4.34 billion.
ELECTRONICS
Machvision sees momentum
Machvision Inc (牧德), a supplier of printed circuit board (PCB) inspection equipment, on Tuesday said it is optimistic about its performance this year, as growth momentum would gain support from new products related to semiconductor applications. Chairman Collin Wang (汪光夏) told a Taipei Exchange-organized conference that the firm’s sales mix by product in the first quarter included flexible PCB inspection equipment (39 percent), automated optical inspection equipment for rigid PCBs (26 percent) and integrated circuit inspection equipment (17 percent). Machvision’s first-quarter sales grew 144.6 percent year-on-year and 8.2 percent quarter-on-quarter to NT$565 million.
BANKING
Yuan deposits slump 0.06%
Yuan deposits held by domestic banks, including negotiable certificates of deposit, edged down 0.06 percent to 321.69 billion yuan (US$51.2 billion) at the end of last month, the central bank said on Tuesday. Yuan deposits held by banks’ domestic units totaled 291.63 billion yuan, a monthly decrease of 0.16 percent, the central bank said, adding that holdings by banks’ offshore units increased 0.92 percent to 30.06 billion yuan.
SEEKING CLARITY: Washington should not adopt measures that create uncertainties for ‘existing semiconductor investments,’ TSMC said referring to its US$165 billion in the US Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) told the US that any future tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors could reduce demand for chips and derail its pledge to increase its investment in Arizona. “New import restrictions could jeopardize current US leadership in the competitive technology industry and create uncertainties for many committed semiconductor capital projects in the US, including TSMC Arizona’s significant investment plan in Phoenix,” the chipmaker wrote in a letter to the US Department of Commerce. TSMC issued the warning in response to a solicitation for comments by the department on a possible tariff on semiconductor imports by US President Donald Trump’s
The government has launched a three-pronged strategy to attract local and international talent, aiming to position Taiwan as a new global hub following Nvidia Corp’s announcement that it has chosen Taipei as the site of its Taiwan headquarters. Nvidia cofounder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Monday last week announced during his keynote speech at the Computex trade show in Taipei that the Nvidia Constellation, the company’s planned Taiwan headquarters, would be located in the Beitou-Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區) in Taipei. Huang’s decision to establish a base in Taiwan is “primarily due to Taiwan’s talent pool and its strength in the semiconductor
An earnings report from semiconductor giant and artificial intelligence (AI) bellwether Nvidia Corp takes center stage for Wall Street this week, as stocks hit a speed bump of worries over US federal deficits driving up Treasury yields. US equities pulled back last week after a torrid rally, as investors turned their attention to tax and spending legislation poised to swell the US government’s US$36 trillion in debt. Long-dated US Treasury yields rose amid the fiscal worries, with the 30-year yield topping 5 percent and hitting its highest level since late 2023. Stocks were dealt another blow on Friday when US President Donald
UNCERTAINTY: Investors remain worried that trade negotiations with Washington could go poorly, given Trump’s inconsistency on tariffs in his second term, experts said The consumer confidence index this month fell for a ninth consecutive month to its lowest level in 13 months, as global trade uncertainties and tariff risks cloud Taiwan’s economic outlook, a survey released yesterday by National Central University found. The biggest decline came from the timing for stock investments, which plunged 11.82 points to 26.82, underscoring bleak investor confidence, it said. “Although the TAIEX reclaimed the 21,000-point mark after the US and China agreed to bury the hatchet for 90 days, investors remain worried that the situation would turn sour later,” said Dachrahn Wu (吳大任), director of the university’s Research Center for
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