DBS Bank Taiwan (星展銀行) has inked a NT$2 billion (US$63.57 million) loan agreement with AU Optronics Corp (AUO, 友達光電), with interest rates set to move lower next year if the panel maker’s sustainability performance improves, the bank said yesterday.
The loan is the first sustainability-linked loan in Taiwan, DBS said in a statement.
The core value of a sustainability-linked loan is to provide an effective incentive for companies to advance their environmental, social and governance (ESG) programs, DBS head of institutional banking group Tony Luo (羅綸有) said in the statement.
Companies hoping to apply for a loan would be evaluated by an independent third-party agency based on the applicant’s ESG performance, Luo said.
If the results of the review meet or exceed the ESG targets set by DBS, the borrower’s interest rate would be reduced, Luo said.
In AUO’s case, DBS has set the targets after discussions with the company and would check if the borrower meets those targets next year, the bank said.
Given that AUO has already performed well in terms of corporate governance, environmental sustainability, science education, culture preservation, social citizenship and inclusive workplace, it would be hard for the company to make a big leap, so DBS has set reasonable objectives, it said.
As the first in Taiwan to sign a sustainability-linked loan, AUO is cementing its commitment to adopting a sustainable approach to business operations and being a role model for Taiwanese companies in this area, DBS Taiwan general manager Lim Him Chuan (林鑫川) said.
AUO has been listed on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for nine consecutive years and has ranked among the top 5 percent in the Taiwan Stock Exchange’s corporate governance evaluation, Lim said.
There is a growing trend for companies to adopt more sustainable practices in their business operations, he said.
By launching a sustainability-linked loan in the nation, DBS hopes to encourage more customers to build businesses that will have a positive impact on the future, he said.
Unlike green loans, which are used to finance or refinance eligible green projects, capital from sustainability-linked loans can be used for general corporate purposes, which provides more flexibility to borrowers, DBS said.
The Singapore-based bank last year inked four sustainability-linked loans totaling more than S$600 million (US$435 million), demonstrating the bank’s commitment to sustainability while offering financial innovation to customers, it 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
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],”