Taishin Financial Holding Co (台新金控) yesterday said it has confidence in the Supreme Court’s ruling on a management rights dispute regarding state-run Chang Hwa Bank (CHB, 彰化銀行).
“We do not know exactly when the verdict will be made, but we expect it this year, as it usually takes a year for the Supreme Court to pronounce a judgement and it has been more than one year since the case reached the court,” Taishin Financial president Welch Lin (林維俊) told an investors’ conference in Taipei.
“I personally believe that the court will do justice by us, as we have a written agreement that guarantees us management rights over CHB. So, I think a scenario in which we lose this case is highly unlikely,” Lin added.
The conglomerate has been contesting the Ministry of Finance’s right to manage CHB since 2014, when it lost a majority on the CHB board to the ministry, as the ministry had in 2005 agreed that Taishin should keep the rights.
The ministry has said that the agreement was null and void after 2005, but Lin rejected the ministry’s claim, showing a copy of the agreement to conference attendees yesterday.
If the firm wins at the Supreme Court, it is willing to have a discussion with the ministry about CHB managing rights, Lin said.
If the ministry would let Taishin Financial regain control of CHB, the conglomerate would raise funds to merge with CHB, Lin said.
If the ministry aims to keep Taishin Financial from controlling CHB, then the company would exit the picture if it could recoup the NT$36.57 billion (US$1.18 billion) that it spent buying a 22.5 percent stake in CHB, Lin said.
Having the money returned would help Taishin Financial improve its financial picture, he added.
“We will cooperate with the ministry either way, but we cannot remain stuck any longer,” he added.
In response, the ministry yesterday said it would wait for the court’s ruling before making any decisions.
Last year, Taishin Financial reported net income of NT$12.93 billion, down 1 percent year-on-year, as increases in interest income, fee income and investment returns were offset by losses in loans to a Chinese company.
However, the company said it remains upbeat regarding profit growth for this year, as its lending and credit card businesses are showing steady growth.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, booked its first-ever profit from its Arizona subsidiary in the first half of this year, four years after operations began, a company financial statement showed. Wholly owned by TSMC, the Arizona unit contributed NT$4.52 billion (US$150.1 million) in net profit, compared with a loss of NT$4.34 billion a year earlier, the statement showed. The company attributed the turnaround to strong market demand and high factory utilization. The Arizona unit counts Apple Inc, Nvidia Corp and Advanced Micro Devices Inc among its major customers. The firm’s first fab in Arizona began high-volume production
VOTE OF CONFIDENCE: The Japanese company is adding Intel to an investment portfolio that includes artificial intelligence linchpins Nvidia Corp and TSMC Softbank Group Corp agreed to buy US$2 billion of Intel Corp stock, a surprise deal to shore up a struggling US name while boosting its own chip ambitions. The Japanese company, which is adding Intel to an investment portfolio that includes artificial intelligence (AI) linchpins Nvidia Corp and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), is to pay US$23 a share — a small discount to Intel’s last close. Shares of the US chipmaker, which would issue new stock to Softbank, surged more than 5 percent in after-hours trading. Softbank’s stock fell as much as 5.4 percent on Tuesday in Tokyo, its
COLLABORATION: Softbank would supply manufacturing gear to the factory, and a joint venture would make AI data center equipment, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) would operate a US factory owned by Softbank Group Corp, setting up what is in the running to be the first manufacturing site in the Japanese company’s US$500 billion Stargate venture with OpenAI and Oracle Corp. Softbank is acquiring Hon Hai’s electric-vehicle plant in Ohio, but the Taiwanese company would continue to run the complex after turning it into an artificial intelligence (AI) server production plant, Hon Hai chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) said yesterday. Softbank would supply manufacturing gear to the factory, and a joint venture between the two companies would make AI data
The Taiwan Automation Intelligence and Robot Show, which is to be held from Wednesday to Saturday at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, would showcase the latest in artificial intelligence (AI)-driven robotics and automation technologies, the organizer said yesterday. The event would highlight applications in smart manufacturing, as well as information and communications technology, the Taiwan Automation Intelligence and Robotics Association said. More than 1,000 companies are to display innovations in semiconductors, electromechanics, industrial automation and intelligent manufacturing, it said in a news release. Visitors can explore automated guided vehicles, 3D machine vision systems and AI-powered applications at the show, along
RSS