Taiwan Cellular Corp (
If the listing goes as planned, the phone company will become the first publicly traded telecom service operator in Taiwan. The listing is being arranged by Fubon Securities Co (
Taiwan Cellular's board of directors decided on Wednesday that the listing application process would be carried out in early February after the Chinese New Year holidays, said an official at the company. "We expect the listing to take place between June and August," he said.
Capitalized at NT$20 billion, Taiwan Cellular posted sales of NT$24 billion and a profit of NT$9 billion last year. Both figures were a significant increase from sales and profits in 1998 of NT$12.4 billion and profit of NT$4.1 billion respectively, the first year of the company's operation. This year, the company expects sales and profits to further increase to NT$40 billion and NT$15 billion respectively.
With telecom shares rising sharply in world markets, Taiwan Cellular shares are expected to be very popular once they are listed on the OTC market, said a fund manager at Fuh-Hwa Investment Trust Co (
"You can tell from the sharply rising share price of its major investors how popular Taiwan Cellular shares will be when they hit the market," said the manager.
Pacific Electric Wire & Cable Co (
Although some analysts say Taiwan's mobile phone market expansion will start slowing down now that almost every second person in Taiwan has a mobile phone, Taiwan Cellular's vice president James Tsao (
"It depends on how you look at the market. If you look at it from the level of growth of use, the market might slow down in its expansion. But, if you look at from the demand side, I believe it will continue to grow due to the rapid development of e-commerce," said Tsao.
He also explained that it wouldn't be long before customers will be able to purchase drinks from vending machines from their mobile phones. The technology could even be used in ATMs and on pets. "If that's the case, it will stimulate demand for both mobile phone services and hardware," he said.
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