Solar cell maker Motech Industries Inc (茂迪) yesterday reported record losses for last year, due to a worsening industry slump, but said that this year would be a fresh start following the implementation of restructuring plans in the past year.
Net losses expanded by 124.19 percent from a year earlier to NT$6.79 billion (US$220.2 million), with net losses per share of NT$12.61, while revenue declined 38.82 percent to NT$14.19 billion, it said in a financial statement.
The losses include an asset impairment charge of NT$2.63 billion in accordance with IAS 36 impairment of assets, an accounting standard, the company said.
“This one-time asset impairment charge as a result of the company’s implementation of organization optimization plans will not have any impact on our working capital or cash outflows,” Motech said in a statement.
“Instead, through those actions during 2018, we have made great progress in improving debt structure, reducing operational costs and enhancing operational efficiency across the company,” it said.
Last year proved difficult for the company, which saw a change of its top executives, including former chairman Chang Ping-heng (張秉衡), the closure of several production lines in Taiwan and China, as well as job cuts that were not limited to contract workers, but also included full-time positions.
As of the end of last year, the company’s net value had decreased to NT$4.53 billion, meaning that its net value per share had fallen below a par value of NT$10, to NT$8.39.
However, Motech said its operations have stabilized and the company has shifted its core business in Taiwan to the solar system market with the help of its high-efficiency mono PERC solar cell capacities of 250 megawatts and module of 200 megawatts.
The company would also continue to improve production costs of solar cell and module facilities in China to meet market trends, while other efforts — such as collecting overdue accounts receivable, lowering inventories, executing the long-term polysilicon supply contracts and disposing of facilities in Taiwan and China — are also intended to drive free cash flow, improve operating leverage and reduce financial debt, it said.
“A more solid financial statement of Motech will lead to increased flexibility to adopt any strategy shift and position, despite a significant decline in book value,” Motech said.
Shares in Motech yesterday fell 1.78 percent to NT$8.84. They have dropped 61.1 percent in the past 12 months.
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
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
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last