Lone Star buys bad loans
Lone Star Asia-Pacific Ltd won an auction to buy bad loans with a face value of NT$23.8 billion (US$682 million) from Chang Hwa Commercial Bank (彰化銀行), the bank said in a statement.
Chang Hwa, First Commercial Bank (第一銀行), Hua Nan Financial Holdings Co (華南金控) are among lenders forecasting losses this year as they try to strengthen their finances to meet a government directive set this year to pare bad loans to 5 percent of total lending within two years.
Lone Star Asia is part of the Lone Star group of funds run by a Texas-based investment company.
Market share may climb
Local notebook manufacturers will gross 67 percent of the world market next year, if their production volume can reach 23 million sets as estimated by the Institute of Information Industry (III).
The overall demand for notebooks around the globe is estimated to reach 34 million sets next year, according to an III analysis.
The analysis indicates that Taiwan remains the world's No. 1 notebook supplier, taking 61 percent of the 30 million-set world market.
The III forecasts that next year, local notebook production is expected to grow by 26.7 percent from this year's level, which is estimated at 18.2 million sets.
The production value is estimated to grow by 7.8 percent from this year's US$13.9 billion to US$15 billion.
Forex reserves top US$1.5bn
Taiwan's foreign exchange reserves rose by US$1.5 billion to a record level of US$159.13 billion at the end of November, the central bank said yesterday.
The increase in the value of the reserves reflected gains from the appreciation of the euro against the US dollar, as well as interest income, the central bank said in a statement.
Microsoft offer due today
Microsoft Corp will be submitting a detailed proposal today to the Fair Trade Commission for an administrative settlement regarding its allegedly unfair trade practices in Taiwan, a commission official said yesterday.
Commission Vice Chairman Chen Chi-yuan (陳紀元) said he believes Microsoft will make its offer in line with the public interest.
Microsoft's trade practices were questioned by several legislators who demanded in August that the commission conduct an investigation into the firm's practices.
Cathay seeks talks on sale
Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控), the nation's largest financial company, said no decision has been made on a sale of government-held shares after Cathay completes its takeover of United World Chinese Commercial Bank (世華銀行). It wants to hold talks on the issue, it said.
Cathay, owner of the country's largest life insurer, will swap its own stock for United World shares on Dec. 18, completing an acquisition valued at NT$115 billion (US$3.3 billion) when it was announced in August.
The government, which owns shares in United World through several banks, will hold about 5.5 percent of Cathay after the swap, said Cathay spokesman Lee Chang-ken (李長庚). He denied a Chinese-language news report that Cathay will sell the government stake overseas as early as the first quarter.
NT dollar drops on lower yen
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday fell against its US counterpart in line with a lower yen. The local currency lost NT$0.063 to close at NT$34.944 on the Taipei foreign exchange market, after yen broke through ?125 psychological level against the greenback, according to traders. Turnover was US$411 million, compared with the previous day's US$420 million.
Chizuko Kimura has become the first female sushi chef in the world to win a Michelin star, fulfilling a promise she made to her dying husband to continue his legacy. The 54-year-old Japanese chef regained the Michelin star her late husband, Shunei Kimura, won three years ago for their Sushi Shunei restaurant in Paris. For Shunei Kimura, the star was a dream come true. However, the joy was short-lived. He died from cancer just three months later in June 2022. He was 65. The following year, the restaurant in the heart of Montmartre lost its star rating. Chizuko Kimura insisted that the new star is still down
While China’s leaders use their economic and political might to fight US President Donald Trump’s trade war “to the end,” its army of social media soldiers are embarking on a more humorous campaign online. Trump’s tariff blitz has seen Washington and Beijing impose eye-watering duties on imports from the other, fanning a standoff between the economic superpowers that has sparked global recession fears and sent markets into a tailspin. Trump says his policy is a response to years of being “ripped off” by other countries and aims to bring manufacturing to the US, forcing companies to employ US workers. However, China’s online warriors
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
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