INSURANCE
TRA policy sufficient
Mingtai Fire and Marine Insurance Co (明台產險), which leads 13 other companies in offering passenger liability insurance for the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) this year, yesterday said that the maximum benefits for a single accident was set at NT$200 million (US$6.47 million) in the policy, which should be sufficient to pay every victim of Sunday’s derailment. The firms said that people who died or were disabled as a result of the accident would receive a compensation of NT$2.5 million, while the injured would receive NT$400,000.
EQUITIES
Foreign investors in sell-off
The Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday said that foreign institutional investors sold a net NT$41.45 billion of shares last week, with China Development Financial Holding Corp (中華開發金控), Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) seeing the highest net selling by foreign investors. Market capitalization of the shareholdings owned by foreign investors was NT$11.56 trillion as of Friday, or 40.41 percent of the total market capitalization, the exchange said. Foreign investors bought a net NT$18.99 million of local shares yesterday.
ELECTRONICS
Hon Hai share price set
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) shares, which were suspended for six days from Thursday last week due to a capital reduction, would have a reference opening price of NT$82.60 upon resuming trading on Friday, the Taiwan Stock Exchange said. Hon Hai in May announced plans to reduce its capital by 20 percent to improve its cash dividend yield for shareholders. The firm’s shares closed at NT$68.10 on Wednesday last week, the lowest level in seven years.
COMPONENTS
Chilisin revenue soars
Passive component maker Chilisin Electronics Corp (奇力新) yesterday posted a net profit of NT$513 million, or earnings per share of NT$2, for last month, on revenue of NT$2.04 billion, up 72.8 percent year-on-year, it said in a company filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange. Chilisin had been requested to release its latest financial figures after its shares plunged 11.79 percent to NT$87.5 over the past five trading days, surpassing the ceiling of 5 percent set by the exchange before listed companies have to issue a financial disclosure.
ENERGY
SGRE to supply Orsted
Denmark’s Orsted A/S yesterday selected Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE) as the preferred supplier for its 900 megawatt offshore wind farms off the cost of Changhua County, the companies said. SGRE is committed to deliver locally produced wind turbine towers with Chin Fong Machine Industrial Co (金豐機器工業), its Taiwanese partner. SGRE would also accelerate the development of a local nacelle assembly facility near Taichung Harbor to meet Orsted’s goal of commencing the wind farm’s construction by 2021.
BANKING
Mega to halt Iran payments
Mega International Commercial Bank (兆豐銀行), the banking arm of state-run Mega Financial Holding Co (兆豐金控), is to immediately terminate its payment clearing mechanism between Taiwan and Iran in response to the US’ sanctions, a senior official said yesterday. In August, Mega International said that its business with Iran is too sensitive and “we should no longer get involved in it.”
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has appointed Rose Castanares, executive vice president of TSMC Arizona, as president of the subsidiary, which is responsible for carrying out massive investments by the Taiwanese tech giant in the US state, the company said in a statement yesterday. Castanares will succeed Brian Harrison as president of the Arizona subsidiary on Oct. 1 after the incumbent president steps down from the position with a transfer to the Arizona CEO office to serve as an advisor to TSMC Arizona’s chairman, the statement said. According to TSMC, Harrison is scheduled to retire on Dec. 31. Castanares joined TSMC in
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the
FACTORY SHIFT: While Taiwan produces most of the world’s AI servers, firms are under pressure to move manufacturing amid geopolitical tensions Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) started building artificial intelligence (AI) servers in India’s south, the latest boon for the rapidly growing country’s push to become a high-tech powerhouse. The company yesterday said it has started making the large, powerful computers in Pondicherry, southeastern India, moving beyond products such as laptops and smartphones. The Chinese company would also build out its facilities in the Bangalore region, including a research lab with a focus on AI. Lenovo’s plans mark another win for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who tries to attract more technology investment into the country. While India’s tense relationship with China has suffered setbacks