AUTO PARTS
Hiroca income falls 29.58%
Automotive components maker Hiroca Holdings Ltd (廣華控股) yesterday reported net income of NT$546.11 million (US$17.71 million) for last year, down 29.58 percent from a year earlier due to higher operating expenses, impairment charges and foreign-exchange losses. Earnings per share were NT$6.51. Cumulative sales increased 1.19 percent year-on-year to NT$8.06 billion. Hiroca, which produces automotive interior trim parts, as well as plastic, fabric and leather decorations, said its board has proposed distributing a cash dividend of NT$3.5 per share, which represents a payout ratio of 53.8 percent. With the company’s shares yesterday closing at NT$77.3 in Taipei trading, the proposed dividend suggests a yield of 4.53 percent.
SHIPPING
Yang Ming still in the red
Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp (陽明海運) yesterday said its volumes for last year increased 11 percent year-on-year to 5.23 million twenty-foot-equivalent units and consolidated revenue rose 8.21 percent to NT$141.83 billion, but the company was still in the red, with a net loss of NT$6.59 billion, or losses per share of NT$2.53. The company attributed the losses to higher global bunker fuel prices, which increased by 31.17 percent compared with the previous year.
LIGHTING
China Electric buys building
China Electric Manufacturing Corp (中國電器), which sells lighting products under the TOA (東亞) brand, yesterday said its property development subsidiary has reached an agreement with Hong Kong-based Best Combo Ltd (盛至) to purchase an office building in Taipei’s Neihu District (內湖) for NT$1.45 billion. The building is being used by Next TV (壹電視). Meanwhile, the company said it is planning a capital reduction scheme to adjust its capital structure and increase shareholder returns. China Electric plans to reduce its paid-in capital by 10 percent to NT$398 million, while returning NT$1 per share to shareholders, as well as a proposed cash dividend of NT$0.15 per share, it said.
BANKING
Subsidiaries to be merged
King’s Town Bank Co Ltd (京城銀行) yesterday said its board of directors has approved a plan to merge two wholly owned subsidiaries to expand customer services, strengthen customer protection and integrate resources to achieve synergies. King’s Town said in a regulatory filing that the integration of Tainan Life Insurance Agent Co Ltd (台南人身保險代理人) and Fu Chen Property Insurance Agent Co Ltd (府城財產保險代理人) is expected to reduce operational costs and have a positive impact on net value and earnings per share. The effective date of the merger has been set for June 3, King’s Town said.
ECONOMY
GDP to grow at least 2%
GDP growth for this year is to remain above 2 percent due to firming domestic demand and investment, Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (台灣經濟研究院) president Chang Chien-yi (張建一) said. While Chang acknowledged that this year’s growth momentum would be weaker than last year, when growth was 2.63 percent, there are also positive developments that should keep growth from slumping below 2 percent. Chang said most domestic enterprises have prepared for the challenges, while the government’s policy of attracting overseas Taiwanese businesses to return to Taiwan is expected to spur domestic demand, he said.
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
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day
Thousands of parents in Singapore are furious after a Cordlife Group Ltd (康盛人生集團), a major operator of cord blood banks in Asia, irreparably damaged their children’s samples through improper handling, with some now pursuing legal action. The ongoing case, one of the worst to hit the largely untested industry, has renewed concerns over companies marketing themselves to anxious parents with mostly unproven assurances. This has implications across the region, given Cordlife’s operations in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The parents paid for years to have their infants’ cord blood stored, with the understanding that the stem cells they contained