STOCK MARKET
Securities firms see losses
Local securities firms reported a combined net loss of NT$1.81 billion (US$58.6 million) last month, down from net income of NT$360.52 million in September as the TAIEX fell about 1,200 points, or 10.94 percent, month-on-month in the wake of a drop on Wall Street, the Taiwan Stock Exchange said yesterday. From January to last month, securities firms reported a cumulative net income of NT$25.7 billion, down 20.57 percent from NT$32.36 billion in the same period last year, it said. The 34 integrated securities firms — which are allowed to engage in brokering, proprietary trading and underwriting — reported a combined net loss of NT$1.99 billion last month, compared with NT$234.73 million in profit in September, while their cumulative net income fell 21.56 percent annually to NT$22.41 billion in the first 10 months, the exchange said.
ELECTRONICS
Sinbon invests in Nextronics
Sinbon Electronics Co (信邦電子), which produces cables, connectors and modems, yesterday said that its board of directors has agreed to acquire 2.95 million common shares of Nextronics Engineering Corp (正淩精密) via a private placement, which it said could create more business opportunities and revenue sources. It offered NT$24.1 per share for Nextronics, which is based in New Taipei City’s Sijhih District (汐止) and makes connectors, valuing the deal at NT$71.095 million, Sinbon said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange. The firm said that it plans to pay the whole amount by Friday. Shares of Sinbon yesterday closed up 0.76 percent at NT$79.6 before the announcement of the private placement deal, while Nextronics shares were trading at NT$28.75.
ELECTRONICS
Excelliance eyes demand
IC designer Excelliance MOS Co (杰力) yesterday said that it would continue to benefit from robust demand for metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFET) next year, after sales in the first three quarters increased 49 percent annually to NT$1.07 billion. Rising prices and expanded capacity would also boost next year’s sales, it said. From January to September, net income doubled to NT$185 million, with earnings per share of NT$5.24. MOSFETs are used for amplifying or switching electronic signals. Rising demand for device driver components used in smart homes, cordless vacuum cleaners and electrical vehicles means that the supply-demand dynamic for MOSFETs would remain unchanged next year, the company said.
STOCK MARKET
New listings disappoint
Hong Kong’s hottest initial public offerings (IPO) have produced the worst returns for investors this year. Ping An Healthcare and Technology Co (平安健康互聯網), in which retail investors placed orders for 654 times the shares initially available, has tumbled 37 percent since it started trading in May. Biotechnology firm Ascletis Pharma Inc (歌禮製藥), whose retail book was covered 10 times, is down 44 percent from its IPO price, and food delivery giant Meituan Dianping (美團點評) has dropped 24 percent. However, while Redsun Properties Group Ltd (弘陽地產), Zhenro Properties Group Ltd (正榮地產) and DaFa Properties Group Ltd (大發地產) received initial orders filling on average just 0.8 times their retail books, they have climbed an average 18 percent from their IPO prices, putting them among the top five performers for deals of more than US$100 million.
BUSINESS UPDATE: The iPhone assembler said operations outlook is expected to show quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year growth for the second quarter Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday reported strong growth in sales last month, potentially raising expectations for iPhone sales while artificial intelligence (AI)-related business booms. The company, which assembles the majority of Apple Inc’s smartphones, reported a 19.03 percent rise in monthly sales to NT$510.9 billion (US$15.78 billion), from NT$429.22 billion in the same period last year. On a monthly basis, sales rose 14.16 percent, it said. The company in a statement said that last month’s revenue was a record-breaking April performance. Hon Hai, known also as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), assembles most iPhones, but the company is diversifying its business to
Apple Inc has been developing a homegrown chip to run artificial intelligence (AI) tools in data centers, although it is unclear if the semiconductor would ever be deployed, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. The effort would build on Apple’s previous efforts to make in-house chips, which run in its iPhones, Macs and other devices, according to the Journal, which cited unidentified people familiar with the matter. The server project is code-named ACDC (Apple Chips in Data Center) within the company, aiming to utilize Apple’s expertise in chip design for the company’s server infrastructure, the newspaper said. While this initiative has been
GlobalWafers Co (環球晶圓), the world’s No. 3 silicon wafer supplier, yesterday said that revenue would rise moderately in the second half of this year, driven primarily by robust demand for advanced wafers used in high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, a key component of artificial intelligence (AI) technology. “The first quarter is the lowest point of this cycle. The second half will be better than the first for the whole semiconductor industry and for GlobalWafers,” chairwoman Doris Hsu (徐秀蘭) said during an online investors’ conference. “HBM would definitely be the key growth driver in the second half,” Hsu said. “That is our big hope
The consumer price index (CPI) last month eased to 1.95 percent, below the central bank’s 2 percent target, as food and entertainment cost increases decelerated, helped by stable egg prices, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. The slowdown bucked predictions by policymakers and academics that inflationary pressures would build up following double-digit electricity rate hikes on April 1. “The latest CPI data came after the cost of eating out and rent grew moderately amid mixed international raw material prices,” DGBAS official Tsao Chih-hung (曹志弘) told a news conference in Taipei. The central bank in March raised interest rates by