Stocks declined, paced by Mega Financial Holdings Co (
China Petrochemical Development Corp (中石化) dropped. The company said it will ask creditors next month to extend payments on US$175 million worth of bonds, convertible into its shares, that it doesn't have enough money to repay.
"China Petrochemical has little chance in solving its debt problem on its own," said Simon Chao, who helps manage US$20 million in equities at President Investment Trust Corp (
"China Petrochemical will be better off if its major stakeholder, Chinese Petroleum Corp (中油), can agree to take over the company," he said.
The TAIEX shed 99.77, to close at 4,605.31. About five stocks declined for every one that gained. MSCI Taiwan futures for February delivery in Singapore fell 1 percent to 194.60. The Taiwan Futures Index fell 1.2 percent to 4,636.
Trading was worth NT$61.5 billion (US$1.8 billion), a quarter below the daily average in the past three months.
Mega Financial, the nation's third-largest financial holding company, lost NT$0.70, or 3.8 percent, to NT$17.60. Chang Hwa Bank shed NT$0.70, or 4.2 percent, to NT$16.10.
The ratio of bad loans to total loans at lenders was 8.85 percent at the end of last year. About NT$1.25 trillion of loans were classified as non-performing or at risk of turning sour.
China Petrochemical shed NT$0.35, to NT$4.75. China Petrochemical Development may have trouble meeting its debt of NT$36.5 billion, some investors said.
China Motor Co (
Ritek Inc (
Taichung reported the steepest fall in completed home prices among the six special municipalities in the first quarter of this year, data compiled by Taiwan Realty Co (台灣房屋) showed yesterday. From January through last month, the average transaction price for completed homes in Taichung fell 8 percent from a year earlier to NT$299,000 (US$9,483) per ping (3.3m²), said Taiwan Realty, which compiled the data based on the government’s price registration platform. The decline could be attributed to many home buyers choosing relatively affordable used homes to live in themselves, instead of newly built homes in the city’s prime property market, Taiwan Realty
The government yesterday approved applications by Alphabet Inc’s Google to invest NT$27.08 billion (US$859.98 million) in Taiwan, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement. The Department of Investment Review approved two investments proposed by Google, with much of the funds to be used for data processing and electronic information supply services, as well as inventory procurement businesses in the semiconductor field, the ministry said. It marks the second consecutive year that Google has applied to increase its investment in Taiwan. Google plans to infuse NT$25.34 billion into Charter Investments Ltd (特許投資顧問) through its Singapore-based subsidiary Fructan Holdings Singapore Pte Ltd, and
Micron Technology Inc is a driving force pushing the US Congress to pass legislation that would put new export restrictions on equipment its Chinese competitors use to make their chips, according to people familiar with the matter. A US House of Representatives panel yesterday was to vote on the “MATCH Act,” a bill designed to close gaps in restrictions on chipmaking equipment. It would also pressure foreign companies that sell equipment to Chinese chipmaking facilities to align with export curbs on US companies like Lam Research Corp and Applied Materials Inc. The bill targets facilities operated by China’s ChangXin Memory Technologies Inc
Singapore-based ride-hailing and delivery giant Grab Holdings’ planned acquisition of Foodpanda’s Taiwan operations has yet to enter the formal review stage, as regulators await supplementary documents, the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said yesterday. Acting FTC Chairman Chen Chih-min (陳志民) told the legislature’s Economics Committee that although Grab submitted its application on March 27, the case has not been officially accepted because required materials remain incomplete. Once the filing is finalized, the FTC would launch a formal probe into the deal, focusing on issues such as cross-shareholding and potential restrictions on market competition, Chen told lawmakers. Grab last month announced that it would acquire
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