The combined revenue of companies listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) last month plunged 10.73 percent from a year earlier to NT$2.46 trillion (US$81.85 billion) due to weak demand and a high comparison base, the exchange said yesterday.
The decline compared with 0.98 percent growth a month earlier and a mild decline of 0.04 percent for last year, exchange data showed.
Of the 941 companies listed on the main bourse, three firms failed to report their sales figures last month, while Airmate International Co Ltd (艾美特), Tong Ming Enterprise Co Ltd (東明) and Kuangli Photoelectric Technology Co Ltd (光麗) received approval from the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) to report their sales figures at a later date, as resumption of work at their Chinese operations has been delayed due to the COVID-19 outbreak there, the exchange said.
Of the companies that reported their sales figures, 211 posted growth, while 727 reported declines, it said.
“The electrical wire and cable industry, iron and steel industry as well as glass and ceramics industry were the three industries with declining revenues,” the exchange said in a statement.
The declines could be attributed to a high comparison base, falling prices of steel, and weak demand for glass and ceramics, it said.
The semiconductor, tourism and information service industries posted the highest revenue increases, benefiting from robust demand for mobile and high-performance computing as well as the effects of Lunar New Year holiday, it said.
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) remained the nation’s largest listed firm in terms of revenue at NT$364 billion, but the figure was down 12 percent year-on-year.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) ranked second, generating NT$103 billion in revenue, up 32 percent from a year earlier, ahead of Pegatron Corp (和碩), whose revenue sank 22 percent to NT$95 billion, exchange data showed.
Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控) ranked fourth with revenue of NT$63 billion, up 85 percent annually, ahead of Quanta Computer Inc (廣達), which saw revenue plummet 25.9 percent to NT$63 billion, the data showed.
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