COSMETICS
Production to restart
Chlitina Holding Ltd (麗豐), which manufactures and sells beauty and cosmetic products through its salon franchise in Taiwan and China, yesterday said its Chinese production lines are to restart today, adding that the company attaches great importance to the health of its employees and the safety of its operations. The company has asked administrative staff to work from home where possible until the end of this month, according to a regulatory filing issued yesterday. The company owns Chlitina (China) Trade Ltd Co (克麗緹娜中國貿易), Weishuo (Shanghai) Daily Product Ltd Co (微碩上海日用品) and other subsidiaries in China.
SANITARY PRODUCTS
KNH eyeing developments
Sanitary paper product manufacturer KNH Enterprise Co Ltd (康那香) yesterday said its Chinese subsidiaries have been applying for permission from local authorities to resume operations. The company’s subsidiaries in Shanghai, Yangzhou and Chengdu were originally scheduled to restart production yesterday, but KNH said each subsidiary’s schedule would depend on the development of the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak and local government policies. The company said it is closely monitoring developments, which so far have not had a significant impact on its finances and business operations in Taiwan and China.
GLASS
Taiwan Glass optimistic
Taiwan Glass Industry Corp (台灣玻璃) yesterday said that some of its subsidiaries in China resumed operations as scheduled yesterday, while others were still awaiting approval from local governments pending the development of the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak. However, the company’s kiln production equipment has been running 24 hours a day and it has seen no negative effects since the Lunar New Year holiday, Taiwan Glass said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange. The company said the impact of delayed resumption of operations on its revenue depends on the development of the outbreak and its impact on the operations of its clients.
TELECOMS
Chunghwa revenue falls
Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信), the nation’s biggest telecom, yesterday posted consolidated revenue of NT$16.7 billion (US$554.8 million) for last month, a 5.3 percent year-on-year decline due to falling handset sales and lower fixed-line voice revenue. Due to cost declines owing to lower handset sales, operating expenses fell to NT$12.92 billion, resulting in operating income of NT$3.78 billion, the company said in a regulatory filing. Net income was NT$2.99 billion last month, or earnings per share of NT$0.39, exceeding the company’s previous guidance.
CONTACT LENSES
Pegavision income slumps
Pegavision Corp (晶碩) yesterday posted net income of NT$475.49 million for last year, or earnings per share of NT$7.62, down from NT$541.16 million the previous year. Pegavision, a contact lens subsidiary of Pegatron Corp (和碩), said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange that its revenue climbed to NT$3.36 billion from NT$3.13 billion in 2018. The board of directors has proposed distributing a cash dividend of NT$2.5 per common share, representing a payout ratio of 32.81 percent. The dividend proposal is subject to shareholders’ approval at an annual general meeting on May 27. Pegavision also announced that vice president of materials research and development division Lai Yu-chin (賴有進) is to retire on Thursday next week.
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
FUTURE PLANS: Although the electric vehicle market is getting more competitive, Hon Hai would stick to its goal of seizing a 5 percent share globally, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), a major iPhone assembler and supplier of artificial intelligence (AI) servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s chips, yesterday said it has introduced a rotating chief executive structure as part of the company’s efforts to cultivate future leaders and to enhance corporate governance. The 50-year-old contract electronics maker reported sizable revenue of NT$6.16 trillion (US$189.67 billion) last year. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has been under the control of one man almost since its inception. A rotating CEO system is a rarity among Taiwanese businesses. Hon Hai has given leaders of the company’s six