■ Fengshan bailed out
The Ministry of Finance yesterday ordered the Central Deposit Insurance Corp (中央存保) to take over management of the debt-ridden Fengshan Credit Cooperative (鳳山信合社) in Kaohsiung County.
"The credit unit is incapable of improving its growing non-performing loans ratio and net assets, which have been pushed into the red," the ministry said in a written statement yesterday.
After the decision was made by the Financial Restructuring Fund (金融重建基金) committee, the ministry moved to bail out the community-level financial institution to protect depositors in accordance with the Banking Law (銀行法).
■ Property market slow
Political uncertainty triggered by the presidential election has slowed property investor activity, said Billy Yen (顏炳立), general manager of DTZ Debenham Tie Leung International Property Advisers (戴德梁行).
"Most investors have adopted a wait-and-see attitude," Yen said at a company auction liquidating 38 commercial properties yesterday.
Yen said he expected the market to warm up after the presidential inauguration on May 20 if the dispute over the election result came to an end.
Only two commercial properties were sold at the company's NT$3.5-billion auction, which attracted over 20 bidders, liquidating a mere NT$24.9 million. Before yesterday's auction, the company had previously closed four deals to liquidate nearly NT$200 million, Yen said.
■ TFN approves capital cut
Taiwan Fixed Network Co's (台灣固網) board yesterday approved a 30-percent cut in its capital, aiming to boost earnings per share and the shareholder return on equity ratio, the company said in a statement.
The fixed-line service carrier's paid-in capital will drop to around NT$64.64 billion after shedding NT$27.66 billion, which will be returned to the company's shareholders by the end of September, the company said.
■ ITRI links with Well-Being
The state-funded Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI, 工研院) signed an agreement with the private Well-Being Biotechnology Corp (國際威林) yesterday to set up a joint venture for the development of an advanced anti-cancer drug.
Tsay Shwu-chen (蔡淑貞), general manager of Well-Being Biotechnology, said at the signing ceremony that her company had already succeeded in developing a platinum anti-cancer drug in cooperation with ITRI.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs contributed funds amounting to NT$60 million (US$1.81 million) to the joint venture.
The platinum anti-cancer drug -- the first of its kind in the world -- is a genetic drug with a DNA-cleaving ability that makes it suitable for treating various types of tumors, Tsay said.
■ Formosas to expand plants
Formosa Plastics Corp (台塑), Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) and two other affiliates received permission from the government to borrow NT$90 billion (US$2.7 billion) for plant expansion, a Chinese-language newspaper reported, without saying where it obtained the information.
The Cabinet will order the Ministry of Finance to ease the credit limits banks impose on the four Formosa companies as a way to encourage investment, the report said.
■ NT dollar stronger
The NT dollar yesterday continued gaining ground against its US counterpart, rising NT$0.021 to close at NT$32.929 on the Taipei foreign exchange market.
Turnover was US$740 million.
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