ELECTRONICS
CHPT hits record revenue
Chunghwa Precision Test Tech Co (CHPT, 中華精測) yesterday reported revenue of NT$257.16 million (US$8.36 million) for last month, the highest for the month of November in the company’s history and raising the possibility that the firm could post record-high revenue for the fourth quarter. Last month’s figure grew 3.68 percent from October and represented an increase of 80.9 percent from the same month a year earlier, the company said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange. The firm attributed the strong annual growth to robust demand for its probe card testing services along with the launch of new handset chips by semiconductor makers. Aggregated revenue in the first 11 months of the year totaled NT$3.06 billion, up 4.09 percent from NT$2.94 billion last year.
KEYPAD MAKERS
Ichia revenue down 9.65%
Handset keypad maker Ichia Technologies Inc (毅嘉科技) yesterday reported consolidated revenue of NT$596.18 million for last month, down 20.1 percent from October and falling 9.65 percent from a year earlier. Revenue for the first 11 months of this year totaled NT$6.68 billion, up 1.46 percent annually from NT$6.58 billion, the company said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange. Sales generated from flexible printed circuit integrated components reached NT$430 million last month, accounting for 72 percent of total sales, with the remainder coming from mechanical integrated components, Ichia said.
ELECTRONICS
Concord raises cash to invest
Concord Industries Ltd (華新特殊鋼), a subsidiary of power cable manufacturer Walsin Lihwa Corp (華新麗華), has decided to raise NT$82 million in fresh funds to invest in Yantai Walsin Stainless Steel Co (煙台華新不銹鋼). Concord’s board of directors yesterday approved the investment plan by issuing new shares, with the capital increase wholly injected by the parent company, the company said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
HOSPITALITY
FPG plans lakeside hotel
Formosa Plastics Group (FPG, 台塑集團), the nation’s largest industrial conglomerate, is planning to build a hotel at the site of Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corp’s (台灣化學纖維) idle plant near Longtan Lake in Yilan County, as the group works to revitalize its assets. Sandy Wang (王瑞瑜), an FPG management team member and chairwoman of Formosa Biomedical Technology Co (台塑生醫), at the group’s sports day on Sunday said beautiful scenery and hot springs are expected to attract guests to the hotel. The group is expected to finalize the plan — its first foray into the tourism sector — by next year.
INSURANCE
Shinkong’s S&P rating raised
S&P Global Ratings has raised its long-term financial strength and issuer credit ratings for Shinkong Insurance Co Ltd (新光產險) to “A” from “A-” on an improved financial risk profile, adding that the company is likely to maintain strong capitalization and a prudent hedging policy, as well as focusing on quality investments with good credit over the next two years. “The upgrade reflects our view that Shinkong Insurance has effectively controlled its foreign-exchange risk exposure at a manageable level,” S&P credit analyst Serene Hsieh (謝雅瑛) said in a statement on Nov. 23. “This has led us to revise upward our assessment of the insurer’s overall financial risk profile from strong to very strong.”
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last