INSURANCE
Forex losses hit record high
Local life insurers reported NT$200.8 billion (US$6.52 billion) in foreign exchange losses for the first 11 months of this year, a record for the period, due to higher hedging costs amid an increasing interest rate spread between Taiwan and the US, Financial Supervisory Commission statistics released yesterday showed. Property insurers reported foreign exchange losses of NT$1.2 billion for the same period, the data showed. Local life insurers booked foreign exchange gains of NT$318.9 billion as of the end of last month, as the New Taiwan dollar depreciated 3.36 percent against the US dollar in the first 11 months, the data showed. However, those gains were offset by heavy hedging losses totaling NT$494.1 billion as of Nov. 30, the data showed.
CHIPMAKERS
Macronix to boost spending
Macronix Internatonal Co (旺宏電子), the world’s biggest NOR flash memorychip maker, on Monday said that its board of directors has approved additional capital spending of NT$865 million for regular operations next year. In October, the board gave the green light to capital expenditure of NT$14.2 billion to boost high-end chip capacity to meet demand from clients. The budget is to be spent from the current quarter. The board also approved the renewal of an agreement with IBM Corp to develop a new phase-change memory chip, the company said.
EQUITIES
TAIEX follows Wall Street up
The TAIEX yesterday rose 1.72 percent on a technical rebound as buying was sparked by a strong showing on Wall Street overnight — with the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining 4.98 percent — in its biggest-ever single-day point gain. Turnover totaled NT$81.32 billion. Foreign institutional investors bought a net NT$7.63 billion of shares on the main board. Foreign institutional investors had apparently not returned from the Christmas holiday, a market analyst said. A rebound in technology companies in the US overnight lifted the domestic bellwether electronics sector, with shaers of contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), the most heavily weighted stock on the local market, rising 3.46 percent to close at NT$224. Also in the technology sector, shares of Largan Precision Co (大立光), a smartphone camera lens supplier to Apple Inc, added 0.32 percent to close at NT$3,135 and iPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) shares edged up 0.85 percent to end at NT$70.80.
RETAIL
Tuntex Mart to close down
Tuntex Mart, the largest hypermarket in Keelung, is to cease operations on Feb. 18 amid escalating competition from online vendors, the Keelung City Government said on Wednesday. A total of 136 people would be laid off due to the closure, Keelung Department of Social Affairs Director Wu Ting-feng (吳挺鋒) told reporters. It had been rumored that Tuntex Mart, which opened in 1994, would close due to rising operating costs and a decline in foot traffic. The layoffs are to occur in three phases, with the first to be completed by Feb. 4, the second by Feb. 19 and the third by Feb. 28, Wu said. Tuntex Mart informed the department of the layoff plan and talks on the issue have proceeded smoothly, Wu said, adding that the city government would pay close attention to the discussions to protect the rights of the affected workers. Tuntex Mart would have to ensure that affected workers receive wages, overtime pay and compensation for the layoffs, he said.
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
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
FUTURE PLANS: Although the electric vehicle market is getting more competitive, Hon Hai would stick to its goal of seizing a 5 percent share globally, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), a major iPhone assembler and supplier of artificial intelligence (AI) servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s chips, yesterday said it has introduced a rotating chief executive structure as part of the company’s efforts to cultivate future leaders and to enhance corporate governance. The 50-year-old contract electronics maker reported sizable revenue of NT$6.16 trillion (US$189.67 billion) last year. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has been under the control of one man almost since its inception. A rotating CEO system is a rarity among Taiwanese businesses. Hon Hai has given leaders of the company’s six