EQUITIES
TAIEX surges past 11,600
The TAIEX yesterday closed above 11,600 points as the market remained awash in liquidity, with investors scrambling to park their funds in large-cap shares. The benchmark index closed up 87.18 points, or 0.75 percent, at the day’s high of 11,644.03 on turnover of NT$152.802 billion (US$5.03 billion). Foreign institutional investors bought a net NT$13.16 billion of shares on the main board, marking the 17th consecutive trading session of net purchases, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) shares gained 1.14 percent to close at NT$310.5, a record high.
FOREIGN EXCHANGE
Reserves hit new high
The nation’s reserves at the end of last month hit a new high, mainly on the back of an increase in returns from the investment portfolio, the central bank said yesterday. In addition, as the euro and other reserve currencies appreciated against the US dollar last month, the value of reserves denominated in those currencies increased in terms of the base currency, the greenback, the central bank said in a statement. The nation’s reserves totaled US$472.48 billion last month, up US$2.99 billion from the previous month, making them the world’s fifth-largest, the bank said.
CAMERA LENSES
Largan posts higher revenue
Smartphone camera lens supplier Largan Precision Co (大立光) yesterday posted revenue of NT$6.63 billion for last month, up 0.45 percent month-on-month and 27.2 percent year-on-year. Shipments of 20-megapixel lenses contributed 10 to 20 percent of revenue, 10-megapixel lenses contributed 50 to 60 percent, and 8-megapixel lenses made up 10 to 20 percent, Largan said. In the first 10 months of the year, cumulative revenue totaled NT$49.01 billion, an increase of 14.74 percent from the same period last year, Largan said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
ENERGY
Orsted eyes ‘green’ bonds
Orsted A/S yesterday announced its intention to issue green senior bonds in New Taiwan dollars to raise “green” financing for the Danish energy firm’s investments in Taiwan’s offshore wind sector. It is to be the first time Orsted has issued NT dollar-denominated bonds. The company plans to issue two tranches of “green” senior unsecured bonds — NT$4 billion of seven-year bonds with a fixed coupon rate of 0.92 percent and NT$8 billion of 15-year bonds with a fixed coupon rate of 1.5 percent, Orsted said. The bonds will be issued in accordance with Orsted’s Green Finance Framework.
PNEUMATICS
Airtac net income slumps
Pneumatic components supplier Airtac International Group (亞德客) has posted net income of NT$438 million for last quarter, a 43.3 percent quarter-on-quarter and 10.3 percent year-on-year decline. Earnings per share fell to NT$2.32, while gross margin and operating margin fell to 45.9 percent and 24.8 percent respectively. Revenue decreased 9 percent quarter-on-quarter, but increased 5 percent year-on-year to NT$4.02 billion, the company said. With the US-China trade dispute continuing to negatively affect clients’ plans to place more orders and raise output, Airtac’s net income for the first three quarters of this year dropped 12.1 percent year-on-year to NT$1.897 billion, or earnings per share of NT$10.04. Revenue in the first three quarters fell 2 percent to NT$11.8 billion, it said.
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
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
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