Banknotes to be quarantined
The government added banknotes to the things it is quarantining to halt severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).
A central bank official said it will hold paper money collected from banks at least 24 hours before reuse, will issue more new notes and encourage the use of credit and debit cards as it seeks to assuage concerns that SARS will be spread on banknotes.
China Steel Q1 profit surges
China Steel Corp (中鋼) said profit surged more than five times in the first quarter after the company raised prices.
Net income rose to NT$9.1 billion (US$261 million) from NT$1.4 billion a year ago.
The company in November raised prices by between NT$200 a ton and NT$1,200 a ton for the first quarter as demand recovers.
It didn't state the percentage increase.
Nan Ya Plastics posts Q1 drop
Nan Ya Plastics Corp (南亞塑膠), the nation's biggest plastics maker, reported profit in the first quarter fell 25 percent because investment returns declined.
Net income dropped to NT$3.55 billion (US$102 million) in the first three months of the year from NT$4.72 billion a year ago, according to the company's statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Sales rose 22 percent to NT$28.6 billion.
Nan Ya, a unit of the country's largest industrial group, earned NT$1.6 billion from its investments, compared with NT$2.67 billion in the year earlier, according to the earnings statement.
The company didn't provide details.
Hua Nan auctioning loans
Hua Nan Financial Holdings Co (華南金控), owner of the nation's fifth-biggest bank by assets, is selling NT$13.3 billion (US$380 million) of bad loans at its banking unit, after writing off a record amount of non-performing loans.
Hua Nan Commercial Bank (華南銀行) hired Ernst & Young LLC to manage today's bad-loan auction, which consists of a mix of consumer and corporate debt backed by real estate and some stockholdings, said Kuo Ching-shui, executive vice president at the bank.
"We are selling the bad assets that were written off last year, and whatever we recover from the sales will contribute to profit this year," Kuo said.
Hua Nan , which posted a net loss of NT$27.2 billion last year, expects to write off another NT$10 billion of bad loans this year. It's forecasting a profit this year.
"We won't have a loss again," Kuo said.
Chunghwa Picture loss widens
Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd (中華映管), the country's third-largest maker of flat-panel displays for electronic products, forecast its loss this year will widen by a quarter.
The company expects a loss of NT$3.9 billion (US$111.6 million), compared with NT$3.1 billion last year. The forecast implies a third straight year of loss for the company, which had a loss of NT$6.5 billion in 2001.
Chunghwa Picture gave no reason for its forecast in the company's statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Sales in the first quarter fell by more than 35 percent to NT$7.6 billion from a year ago.
The company uses older production technology than its rivals, which drags down profitability, analysts said.
NT dollar rises
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday maintained its strength against its US counterpart, rising NT$0.04 to close at NT$34.898 on the Taipei foreign exchange market.
Turnover was US$535 million.
Agencies
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