Hutchison denies stake report
Hutchison Whampoa Ltd (黃浦和記), Asia's biggest investor in European high-speed mobile-phone networks, rejected a Chinese-language newspaper report that the Hong Kong company held talks to buy a one-third stake in Taiwan Cellular Corp (台灣大哥大).
"We completely deny the report," Hutchison spokeswoman Nora Yong said, without elaborating.
Taiwan Cellular's shareholder and affiliate, Taiwan Fixed Network Ltd (台灣固網), plans to sell 33 percent of the mobile-phone operator as part of moves to unwind cross-shareholdings, reorganize and attract investors.
Taiwan Cellular may seek other potential investors such as Vodafone Group Plc of the UK and Telstra Corp of Australia, the report said, citing Taiwan Cellular Acting Chairman Daniel Tsai (蔡明忠).
According to Tsai, the company is looking for foreign strategic investors and is willing to let the partner gain control of the company.
Hutchison, controlled by billionaire Li Ka-shing (李嘉誠), is investing US$16.7 billion with its partners to start high-speed mobile-phone services in nine countries.
Air-show sales predicted
Defense officials said yesterday they hope to increase sales of Taiwanese military hardware at an air show in Taipei later this week.
Military official Liu Li-tsung said Taiwan hoped to rack up NT$18.3 billion (US$532 million) worth of business at the seventh Taipei Aerospace Technology Exhibition, which opens tomorrow.
Liu said the Sky Sword 2 and Hsiung Feng 2 missiles, and the M6-OA3 tank would be among the equipment on offer.
Boeing, Raytheon, Bell, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, as well as Rolls Royce and Dassault Aviation are also participating in the show, said an official at the China External Trade Development Council. The air show ends Sunday.
Coca-Cola moves into tea
Seeking to attract young and health-conscious consumers, US soft drink giant Coca-Cola has ventured into Taiwan's growing cold-tea beverage market.
Coca-Cola began selling two bottled tea drinks this week under the brand of its Taiwanese partner Ten Ren Tea (天仁), Jason Wu (吳國昇), president of Coca-Cola's Taiwan branch, said yesterday.
Ten Ren is the nation's biggest producer and retailer of tea leaves.
While older Taiwanese still prefer to sip hot tea the traditional way, bottled tea drinks are increasingly popular among younger people. Last year, sales of bottled tea drinks totaled NT$13.5 billion (US$390 million), nearly 40 percent higher than that of sodas.
MOF greenlights bond sale
The Ministry of Finance yesterday gave its go-ahead to the Credit Lyonnais SA's (法國里昂信貸銀行) application for sales of bonds backed by its NT$8.8 billion-worth corporate loans and NT$40 million-worth liquid reserves on the secondary market.
"This will be the nation's first of its kind securitization plan on corporate loans," said Thomas Huang (黃天牧), deputy director-general of the ministry's Bureau of Monetary Affairs, at a press conference yesterday.
Huang added that the French bank's project is still pending an approval from the Securities and Futures Commission to finalize its interest rates for the bonds and beneficiary certificates, to be issued by the Grand Commercial Bank (萬通銀行) and traded by the Grand Cathay Securities Co (大華證券) in the near future.
NT dollar maintains strength
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday maintained strength against its US counterpart, up NT$0.007 to close at NT$34.382 on the Taipei foreign exchange market.
Turnover was US$225 million.
Merida Industry Co (美利達) has seen signs of recovery in the US and European markets this year, as customers are gradually depleting their inventories, the bicycle maker told shareholders yesterday. Given robust growth in new orders at its Taiwanese factory, coupled with its subsidiaries’ improving performance, Merida said it remains confident about the bicycle market’s prospects and expects steady growth in its core business this year. CAUTION ON CHINA However, the company must handle the Chinese market with great caution, as sales of road bikes there have declined significantly, affecting its revenue and profitability, Merida said in a statement, adding that it would
i Gasoline and diesel prices at fuel stations are this week to rise NT$0.1 per liter, as tensions in the Middle East pushed crude oil prices higher last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. International crude oil prices last week rose for the third consecutive week due to an escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, as the market is concerned that the situation in the Middle East might affect crude oil supply, CPC and Formosa said in separate statements. Front-month Brent crude oil futures — the international oil benchmark — rose 3.75 percent to settle at US$77.01
RISING: Strong exports, and life insurance companies’ efforts to manage currency risks indicates the NT dollar would eventually pass the 29 level, an expert said The New Taiwan dollar yesterday rallied to its strongest in three years amid inflows to the nation’s stock market and broad-based weakness in the US dollar. Exporter sales of the US currency and a repatriation of funds from local asset managers also played a role, said two traders, who asked not to be identified as they were not authorized to speak publicly. State-owned banks were seen buying the greenback yesterday, but only at a moderate scale, the traders said. The local currency gained 0.77 percent, outperforming almost all of its Asian peers, to close at NT$29.165 per US dollar in Taipei trading yesterday. The
RECORD LOW: Global firms’ increased inventories, tariff disputes not yet impacting Taiwan and new graduates not yet entering the market contributed to the decrease Taiwan’s unemployment rate last month dropped to 3.3 percent, the lowest for the month in 25 years, as strong exports and resilient domestic demand boosted hiring across various sectors, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. After seasonal adjustments, the jobless rate eased to 3.34 percent, the best performance in 24 years, suggesting a stable labor market, although a mild increase is expected with the graduation season from this month through August, the statistics agency said. “Potential shocks from tariff disputes between the US and China have yet to affect Taiwan’s job market,” Census Department Deputy Director Tan Wen-ling
RSS