■ Foreign reserves hit record
Taiwan's foreign exchange reserves rose to a record high US$227.66 billion at the end of last month, the central bank said yesterday. The figure was up US$1.14 billion from the US$226.52 billion recorded a month earlier and up US$21.03 billion from a year earlier, the bank said. The increase reflects returns from forex reserves management and companies' early disposals of forward contracts on foreign currency, the Central Bank of China said in a statement. Taiwan's foreign reserves rank behind those of Japan and China.
■ Compal April sales rises
Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶), the world's second-largest notebook computer maker, said last month sales rose 22 percent from a year ago to NT$14.4 billion (US$434 million), the company said in a statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange. Sales rose from NT$11.9 billion in April last year. They were little changed from NT$14.4 billion in the previous month, the statement said. The company last week reported NT$1.6 billion in net income for the first quarter of the year, a slide of 54 percent from the previous quarter, due to a NT$479 million loss on foreign currency exchange. The first-quarter figures was down 30 percent on the year, the company said.
■ Chunghwa Picture forecast up
Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd (中華映管), the nation's third-largest liquid-crystal-display (LCD) maker, yesterday officially announced a revised forecast for this year, the company said in its Web site. With anticipated growth in both shipment and sales fuelled by better-than-expected market demands, the company adjusts upward its consolidated revenue to NT$128.9 billion from NT$121.3 billion it predicted in December last year. Net income is expected to double to NT$17.3 billion from NT$8.2 billion. Estimated earnings per share also increased to NT$2.59, twice as much as original NT$1.25. The company yesterday also posted a record high monthly consolidated revenue of NT$11.3 billion last month, a minor rise of 3.1 percent from last month, or a huge leap of 91.4 percent from a year ago.
■ BOT to sell insurance holding
Bank of Taiwan (BOT, 台灣銀行), Taiwan's largest lender by assets, plans to sell its stake in Taiwan Life Insurance Co (台灣人壽). Tokyo-based Tokio Marine & Fire Insurance Co may bid for the 27 percent holding, a Chinese-language newspaper reported, without saying where it got the information. The sale is part of plans to reduce the ratio of long-term equity holdings to its capital, BOT said in a statement. Taiwan Life shares closed yesterday at NT$60, valuing BOT's stake at about NT$6 billion (US$180 million). Taiwan Life Insurance shares have risen 22 percent so far this year.
■ NT dollar trims gain
The New Taiwan dollar pared gains after the TAIEX fell to its lowest in more than four months, sparking speculation overseas investors sold equities and will curb demand for the currency. The New Taiwan dollar rose NT$0.025 against its US counterpart to close at NT$33.252 on the Taipei foreign exchange market, after rising as much as 0.2 percent to NT$33.20. Turnover was US$488 million. "People are concerned about whether there will be fund outflows from the stock market so the New Taiwan dollar is a little pressured," said Sam Ku, a currency trader at The Chinese Bank (中華銀行) in Taipei.
HORMUZ ISSUE: The US president said he expected crude prices to drop at the end of the war, which he called a ‘minor excursion’ that could continue ‘for a little while’ The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Kuwait started reducing oil production, as the near-closure of the crucial Strait of Hormuz ripples through energy markets and affects global supply. Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) is “managing offshore production levels to address storage requirements,” the company said in a statement, without giving details. Kuwait Petroleum Corp said it was lowering production at its oil fields and refineries after “Iranian threats against safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz.” The war in the Middle East has all but closed Hormuz, the narrow waterway linking the Persian Gulf to the open seas,
Taiwan has enough crude oil reserves for more than 100 days and sufficient natural gas reserves for more than 11 days, both above the regulatory safety requirement, Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said yesterday, adding that the government would prioritize domestic price stability as conflicts in the Middle East continue. Overall, energy supply for this month is secure, and the government is continuing efforts to ensure sufficient supply for next month, Kung told reporters after meeting with representatives from business groups at the ministry in Taipei. The ministry has been holding daily cross-ministry meetings at the Executive Yuan to ensure
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