Far Eastern Group (
"We have spent at least NT$2.5 billion on investments in Pacific Sogo," said Douglas Hsu (徐旭東), chairman of Far Eastern Group. The move would make Far Eastern the nation's largest department-store operator.
Far Eastern is currently the third-largest department-store operator in Taiwan, managing nine stores that registered NT$17 billion in total sales last year.
Pacific Sogo, Taiwan's second-largest department-store operator, operates seven stores that registered NT$28 billion in sales last year, while Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Department Stores (
Hsu made the remarks yesterday at the opening of the "German Festival" that was organized by Far Eastern. The remarks confirmed a Chinese-language newspaper report that Far Eastern had spent at least NT$2.5 billion on Pacific Sogo to help the retailer and its parent company pay back debt.
Pacific Construction Co (太平洋建設), which controls Pacific Sogo, had debt amounting to 81 percent of its assets at the end of June, due to a slump in the local real-estate market.
Pacific Construction said on Thursday that investors agreed to delay redemption of US$75 million in bonds after the developer said it didn't have enough money to pay for the bonds.
Far Eastern's investment in Pacific Sogo helped redeem 43 percent of Pacific Sogo's shares from credit banks, the paper said, quoting unnamed sources at Pacific Sogo.
Market watchers said the possible acquisition of Pacific Sogo would be very positive for Far Eastern stores, who reported a 6.3 percent decline in sales last year from a year before.
"In the retail market competition is getting severe; Far Eastern has to expand its market share or it will be out of business," said Christine Wu (
She added that through this investment deal, Taiwan's No. 2 and No. 3 department-store chains, Pacific Sogo and Far Eastern, will be able to outsize Shin Kong Mitsukoshi.
Far Eastern shares rose 6.3 percent to close at NT$5.95 per share on the TAIEX.
Another industry pundit said that it can benefit Far Eastern a lot if it could be the market leader.
"Its bargaining power over vendors will increase because vendors will try their best to set up shops in Far Eastern stores," said Bei Lien-ti (
She added that this can be a turning point for Far Eastern.
"Consumers always did not have much interest in Far Eastern because their vendors were not as popular as Shin Kong Mitsukoshi or Pacific Sogo's," Bei said.
"The current fashion market is more Western-oriented and consumers prefer international selections," Bei added.
CAUTIOUS RECOVERY: While the manufacturing sector returned to growth amid the US-China trade truce, firms remain wary as uncertainty clouds the outlook, the CIER said The local manufacturing sector returned to expansion last month, as the official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) rose 2.1 points to 51.0, driven by a temporary easing in US-China trade tensions, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. The PMI gauges the health of the manufacturing industry, with readings above 50 indicating expansion and those below 50 signaling contraction. “Firms are not as pessimistic as they were in April, but they remain far from optimistic,” CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said at a news conference. The full impact of US tariff decisions is unlikely to become clear until later this month
Popular vape brands such as Geek Bar might get more expensive in the US — if you can find them at all. Shipments of vapes from China to the US ground to a near halt last month from a year ago, official data showed, hit by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs and a crackdown on unauthorized e-cigarettes in the world’s biggest market for smoking alternatives. That includes Geek Bar, a brand of flavored vapes that is not authorized to sell in the US, but which had been widely available due to porous import controls. One retailer, who asked not to be named, because
CHIP DUTIES: TSMC said it voiced its concerns to Washington about tariffs, telling the US commerce department that it wants ‘fair treatment’ to protect its competitiveness Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday reiterated robust business prospects for this year as strong artificial intelligence (AI) chip demand from Nvidia Corp and other customers would absorb the impacts of US tariffs. “The impact of tariffs would be indirect, as the custom tax is the importers’ responsibility, not the exporters,” TSMC chairman and chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said at the chipmaker’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Hsinchu City. TSMC’s business could be affected if people become reluctant to buy electronics due to inflated prices, Wei said. In addition, the chipmaker has voiced its concern to the US Department of Commerce
STILL LOADED: Last year’s richest person, Quanta Computer Inc chairman Barry Lam, dropped to second place despite an 8 percent increase in his wealth to US$12.6 billion Staff writer, with CNA Daniel Tsai (蔡明忠) and Richard Tsai (蔡明興), the brothers who run Fubon Group (富邦集團), topped the Forbes list of Taiwan’s 50 richest people this year, released on Wednesday in New York. The magazine said that a stronger New Taiwan dollar pushed the combined wealth of Taiwan’s 50 richest people up 13 percent, from US$174 billion to US$197 billion, with 36 of the people on the list seeing their wealth increase. That came as Taiwan’s economy grew 4.6 percent last year, its fastest pace in three years, driven by the strong performance of the semiconductor industry, the magazine said. The Tsai
RSS