Debt-ridden LCD panel maker Chunghwa Picture Tubes Co (CPT, 中華映管) yesterday said it is negotiating with key component and material suppliers as it works to restore operations under a restructuring scheme.
The 47-year-old company was forced to shut down its two fabs in Taoyuan’s Longtan (龍潭) and Yangmei (楊梅) districts over the weekend, as suppliers withheld materials for fear of not being paid.
The company on Friday said it submitted a restructuring plan to Taoyuan District Court as it could no longer pay its debts.
“Since then, we have started negotiating with suppliers to continue receiving materials,” an investor relations and public communications department official said by telephone.
“We do not yet have a time frame for resuming fab operations,” the official said. “We will resume production and shipments to clients soon, after wrapping up the negotiations.”
The restructuring filing provides the company protection from its creditors as it develops a plan and negotiates adjusting its debts.
The company lapsed into deep financial woes as LCD panel prices collapsed amid a severe supply glut and slumping demand due to US-China trade tensions and stock routs in China, company president Lin Sheng-chang (林盛昌) told employees in an internal letter.
The company’s board of directors last week approved the restructuring scheme and the panel maker has been in active talks with clients and primary material suppliers over the past few days, Lin said, calling on workers to band together and support the plan.
Operations are being streamlined and the firm is searching for ways to increase cash flow, in hopes of reviving the company, he added.
The company posted a net cash outflow of NT$8.16 billion (US$264.33 million) in the first three quarters of this year, reversing a net cash inflow of NT$4.57 billion for the same period last year.
It saw revenue dip to a historical low of NT$1.36 billion last month, down 55.49 percent from NT$3.05 billion a year earlier. Aggregate revenue plunged 28 percent to NT$23.08 billion in the first 11 months of this year, from NT$32.04 billion in the same period last year.
Chunghwa Picture Tubes has 4,583 employees and 244,931 shareholders, its annual report showed.
The company saw its share price tumble 9.4 percent to NT$1.06 in Taipei trading yesterday, two days after the restructuring announcement.
The domestic unit of the Chinese-owned, Dutch-headquartered chipmaker Nexperia BV will soon be able to produce semiconductors locally within China, according to two company sources. Nexperia is at the center of a global tug-of-war over critical semiconductor technology, with a Dutch court in February ordering a probe into alleged mismanagement at the company. The geopolitical tussle has disrupted supply chains, with some carmakers reportedly forced to cut production due to chip shortages. Local production would allow Nexperia’s domestic arm, Nexperia Semiconductors (China) Ltd (安世半導體中國), to bypass restrictions in place since October on the supply of silicon wafers — etched with tiny components to
Singapore-based ride-hailing and delivery giant Grab Holdings Ltd has applied for regulatory approval to acquire the Taiwan operations of Germany-based Delivery Hero SE's Foodpanda in a deal valued at about US$600 million. Grab submitted the filing to the Fair Trade Commission on Friday last week, with the transaction subject to regulatory review and approval, the company said in a statement yesterday. Its independent governance structure would help foster a healthy and competitive market in Taiwan if the deal is approved, Grab said. Grab, which is listed on the NASDAQ, said in the filing that US-based Uber Technologies Inc holds about 13 percent of
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday received government approval to deploy its advanced 3-nanometer (3nm) process at its second fab currently under construction in Japan, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a news release. The ministry green-lit the plan for the facility in Kumamoto, which is scheduled to start installing equipment and come online in 2028 with a monthly production capacity of 15,000 12-inch wafers, the ministry said. The Department of Investment Review in June 2024 authorized a US$5.26 billion investment for the facility, slated to manufacture 6- to 12nm chips, significantly less advanced than 3nm process. At a meeting with
Taiwan’s food delivery market could undergo a major shift if Singapore-based Grab Holdings Ltd completes its planned acquisition of Delivery Hero SE’s Foodpanda business in Taiwan, industry experts said. Grab on Monday last week announced it would acquire Foodpanda’s Taiwan operations for US$600 million. The deal is expected to be finalized in the second half of this year, with Grab aiming to complete user migration to its platform by the first half of next year. A duopoly between Uber Eats and Foodpanda dominates Taiwan’s delivery market, a structure that has remained intact since the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) blocked Uber Technologies Inc’s
RSS