CHEMICALS
Swancor reports a net loss
Materials manufacturer and wind farm developer Swancor Holding Co Ltd (上緯) yesterday reported a net loss of NT$6 million (US$201,626) for last month, down 109 percent from a year earlier, with net losses per share of NT$0.07. However, revenue rose 32 percent year-on-year to NT$487 million, the company said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange. In the first quarter, net losses expanded to NT$42 million, or net losses per share of NT$0.47, while total revenue rose 22.63 percent to NT$1.15 billion, the filing showed. The market regulator requested that Swancor disclose its latest financial figures amid stock price fluctuations and after it closed down by the daily limit at NT$136 yesterday.
SEMICONDUCTORS
WPG net income rises 2.4%
Semiconductor component distributor WPG Holdings Co (大聯大) yesterday reported that net income last quarter improved 2.4 percent quarterly to NT$1.89 billion, with earnings per share of NT$1.04. First-quarter sales rose 3.62 percent annually to NT$123.41 billion, the company said, citing growing shipments of computer, consumer electronics, communications, cloud services and automotive-related components. The company also unveiled its guidance for this quarter, forecasting that sales would reach between NT$127 billion and NT$140 billion, while operating margin would be between 1.85 and 1.98 percent, compared with 1.95 percent last quarter.
GAMING
Gamania gross margin rises
Online game publisher Gamania Digital Entertainment Co (遊戲橘子) yesterday said rising sales and an improving product mix helped increased its gross margin 7 percentage points from a year earlier to 25 percent for the first quarter. Net profit for the period surged 664 percent to NT$408 million, with earnings per share of NT$2.41, the company said. First-quarter revenue rose 119 percent to NT$4.86 billion, which the firm attributed to the growing popularity of its biggest online game, Lineage M. Gamania said contribution from Lineage M and game points distribution subsidiary Gash Co Ltd (樂點) would be major growth drivers for this quarter.
MANUFACTURING
Ichia revenue falls 6 percent
Handset keypad maker Ichia Technologies Inc (毅嘉科技) yesterday posted revenue of NT$580 million for last month, down 6 percent from March, due to a shortage of raw materials. On an annual basis, revenue rose 12 percent, it said. Last month’s revenue included about NT$457 million in sales of flexible printed circuit integrated components and about NT$125 million from mechanical integrated components, Ichia said in a filing with the stock exchange. Cumulative revenue for the first four months of the year expanded 9 percent year-on-year to NT$2.17 billion, it said.
CHIPMAKERS
TSMC fab starts operations
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) 12-inch fab in Nanjing, China, has officially started mass production and is ready for shipments of chips using its 16-nanometer process in the near term, the Chinese-language Economic Daily News reported, citing industry sources. The world’s largest contract chipmaker held a ground-breaking ceremony for the plant on July 7, 2016. The Nanjing facility’s first shipment was delivered to Beijing-based Bitmain Technologies Ltd (比特大陸), the world’s largest bitcoin mining organization, the newspaper said.
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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