Tax shortfall predicted
Taiwan may face a shortfall of around NT$60 billion in tax revenues this year, judging from the tax revenues in the first four months of the year, a Ministry of Finance official said yesterday.
But if the outbreak of SARS can not be brought under control soon, the nation this year may face up to NT$100 billion shortfall in tax revenues, Nelson Yu (游能淵), deputy director-general of the Taxation Department, said at a press conference.
On Monday Minister of Finance Lin Chuan (林全) told lawmakers that in the first four months of the year, tax revenues from income tax, stock transaction tax, business tax and import tariffs were less than the same period last year.
The ministry has targeted an annual tax revenues of NT$929.8 billion for this year. In the January to April period, the government's revenues from taxes totaled NT$202.8 billion, accounting for only 21.81 percent of the target set for the year.
Takashimaya reopens in Tienmu
Takashimaya Department Store (大葉高島屋) in Tienmu reopened yesterday after closing its doors for four days to disinfect the facility, with customer traffic declining by 50 percent from the past, the store's vice president, Wei Chih-hsiung (魏志雄), said yesterday.
Customer traffic can reach more than 10,000 people per day on weekdays and as many as 30,000 on weekends, he said.
The retailer closed its doors on Saturday after a saleswoman was diagnosed as SARS-positive. To drum up its sales, it has extended its annual promotion activities through June 1, with promotions of up to 88 percent off on selected items, Wei said.
The closure may cost the store up to NT$70 million in revenue, he added.
Quanta to offer new shares
Quanta Display Inc (廣輝電子), a maker of flat-panel displays, plans to offer 1 billion new shares to domestic and overseas investors, a sale that may raise about NT$10.8 billion (US$311 million). The company plans to sell 600 million shares in overseas markets publicly or privately, it said in a statement.
Quanta Display plans to invest NT$50 billion to build a plant for television and computer panels in northern Taiwan, local media reported last month, without citing anyone.
The company plans to start construction as early as the fourth quarter of next year, the report said.
TSMC denies China slowdown
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufac-turing Co (TSMC, 台積電) may be slowing its plans to build its first plant in China because of the spread of SARS, a local newspaper reported yesterday, citing Huang Ching-tan (黃慶堂), executive secretary of the Ministry of Economic Affairs' Investment Commission.
TSMC yesterday denied the report, saying the company is on schedule to provide information to the government on its plans.
The commission also rejected the report.
"TSMC didn't contact us to delay the investment plan in China," Emile Chang (張銘斌), a director at the commission, said.
"As far as we are aware, the plan is still under review," Chang said.
The government on Feb. 26 approved TSMC's investment plan to build the nation's first semiconductor plant in China. TSMC chairman Morris Chang (張忠謀) said in January he expects the plant to start production by the fourth quarter next year at the earliest.
NT dollar gains more ground
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday continued to gain ground against its US counterpart, rising NT$0.038 to close at NT$34.657 on the Taipei foreign exchange market. Turn-over was US$440 million.
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday said that its research institute has launched its first advanced artificial intelligence (AI) large language model (LLM) using traditional Chinese, with technology assistance from Nvidia Corp. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), said the LLM, FoxBrain, is expected to improve its data analysis capabilities for smart manufacturing, and electric vehicle and smart city development. An LLM is a type of AI trained on vast amounts of text data and uses deep learning techniques, particularly neural networks, to process and generate language. They are essential for building and improving AI-powered servers. Nvidia provided assistance
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STILL HOPEFUL: Delayed payment of NT$5.35 billion from an Indian server client sent its earnings plunging last year, but the firm expects a gradual pickup ahead Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), the world’s No. 5 PC vendor, yesterday reported an 87 percent slump in net profit for last year, dragged by a massive overdue payment from an Indian cloud service provider. The Indian customer has delayed payment totaling NT$5.35 billion (US$162.7 million), Asustek chief financial officer Nick Wu (吳長榮) told an online earnings conference. Asustek shipped servers to India between April and June last year. The customer told Asustek that it is launching multiple fundraising projects and expected to repay the debt in the short term, Wu said. The Indian customer accounted for less than 10 percent to Asustek’s
Gasoline and diesel prices this week are to decrease NT$0.5 and NT$1 per liter respectively as international crude prices continued to fall last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. Effective today, gasoline prices at CPC and Formosa stations are to decrease to NT$29.2, NT$30.7 and NT$32.7 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, while premium diesel is to cost NT$27.9 per liter at CPC stations and NT$27.7 at Formosa pumps, the companies said in separate statements. Global crude oil prices dropped last week after the eight OPEC+ members said they would
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