■ Manufacturing output up
The output of the nation's manufacturing industries in the third quarter of this year totaled NT$2,069.3 billion (US$60.86 billion), an increase of 9.28 percent over the same period of last year, according to statistics released yesterday.
The statistics, compiled by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, indicated that 46.14 percent of the output, worth NT$954.9 billion, was exported.
Petroleum and coal products topped the list of sale increases for the quarter with 23.37 percent, followed by chemical materials with 20.71 percent and basic metal products with 15.45 percent.
The sales of paper, precision machinery and electrical and electronics products also increased by double digits in the third quarter.
The sales of electric and electronics products totaled NT$783.7 billion, a hike of 11.81 percent over the same quarter of last year.
CMC Magnetics starts buyback
CMC Magnetics Corp (中環), the country's largest maker of recordable compact discs by sales, said it will spend as much as NT$810 million (US$24 million) to buy back its shares.
■ CMC Magnetics will buy as many as 30 million shares, or 0.9 percent of its outstanding shares, for as much as NT$27 each, it said in a statement to the stock exchange. The buyback will start today and last for a month.
■ Acer to buy back shares
Acer Inc said it will spend as much as NT$14.8 billion (US$435 million) repurchasing its shares.
Starting on Monday, the company will buy as many as 40 million shares within a price range of NT$40 to NT$52 each over the next two months, it said in a statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Sales in October at Taiwan's biggest desktop computer maker rose 77 percent to NT$10.9 billion from a year earlier.
■ HP launches charity discounts
Hewlett-Packard Co's (HP) Tai-wan branch launched a charity discount program at its new offices in Taipei yesterday.
In co-operation with the charity United Way, HP plans to offer discounts on 60 notebook computers and 250 flat-screen computer displays to non-profit organizations, the company announced at the official opening of its new offices in the city's Hsinyi district yesterday without revealing what the discounts are.
The new offices on five floors of the Cathay Hsinyi Trading Center -- next to the world's tallest building, Taipei 101 -- were specially designed to be more "human-centric" and combined two office spaces in Dunhua South Road and Fuxing North Road, the company said in a statement yesterday.
■ Yang Ming to expand fleet
Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp (陽明海運) said it will take out bank loans to finance the purchase of eight container ships, which are part of an estimated US$740 million expansion plan.
The country's second-biggest shipper, which earlier this week announced the order, will use its own capital for half the order and borrow the rest, said David Liu (劉吉雄), executive vice president of Yang Ming, in a phone interview in Taipei.
The eight ships brought to 21 the number of new vessels Yang Ming has ordered this year. The company now operates 33 of its own ships and 33 chartered vessels, including two oil tankers.
■ NT dollar lower
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday traded lower against its US counterpart, declining NT$0.018 to finish at NT$34.045 on the Taipei foreign exchange market. Turn-over was US$460 million.
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