■ Moon cakes no reward
TengMoon cakes have become the least favorite of gifts that employees want for the Mid-Autumn Festival because of high calories contained in these palm-sized traditional treats, according to a survey released by the Pan Asia Human Resource Corp (泛亞人力銀行) yesterday. The poll, conducted among 4,158 white-collar workers between Sept. 1 and last Friday, showed that 55.67 percent of the respondents prefer gift coupons, followed by gift boxes, pomelos, spirits and then moon cakes. Its another survey among 1,238 corporate executives during the same period suggested that 91.03 percent of companies are giving away bonuses or gift boxes to employees. The average cash gift for the festival is NT$1,397, up from last year's NT$1,372. Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行) topped the list for employee rewards, giving its workers 1.8 months' salary, the poll said.
■ Postal savings up 5.07%
Postal savings totaled NT$3.28 trillion (US$96.5 billion) as of the end of last month, up by 5.07 percent, or NT$158.5 billion, from last year's level, according to the government's latest statistics. The statistics show that NT$1.759 trillion, or 53.52 percent of that amount, came from one-year deposits at postal offices. Some NT$1.23 trillion are held by depositors in passbook accounts, while the remaining NT$293.4 billion, or 8.93 percent, belong to other sorts of deposits.
■ Acer sells BenQ, Hon Hai shares
Acer Inc plans to sell 10 million Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) shares, according to a company statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange. The stake is worth NT$1.2 billion at the stock's closing share price yesterday of NT$119.50. Acer said it also plans to sell 125 million shares in BenQ Corp (明基電通). Those shares are valued at NT$4.6 billion, based on the closing price of NT$36.70 a share.
■ Chiao Tung to sell UMC shares
Chiao Tung Bank (交通銀行) plans to sell up to 110 million shares in United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電) as American depositary receipts (ADRs), the bank's parent company Mega Financial Holdings Co (兆豐金控) said in a statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange. UMC, the world's second-largest supplier of made-to-order semiconductors, said last January that shareholders had sold 7.95 million ADRs for an average price of US$4.80. Each receipt is made up of five common UMC shares. Shares of UMC, down 21 percent this year, rose 1.4 percent to NT$21.2 yesterday. Mega Financial is the nation's second-largest financial services provider by market value.
■ Bank to sell Taisugar shares
Taiwan Business Bank (台灣企銀) said it plans to sell all the shares it owns in Taiwan Sugar Corp (Taisugar, 台糖), as it tries to clean up its balance sheet. The bank plans to sell about 23 million shares, or a 0.3 percent stake in the government-owned sugar monopoly, through an auction in a month, the bank said in a statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange. The government owns about 97 percent of Taisugar. The stock was listed in 1962 and delisted in 1967 after falling sugar prices drove down the stock.
■ NT dollar loses ground
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday continued trading lower against its US counterpart, declining NT$0.027 to close at NT$33.920 on the Taipei foreign exchange market. The turnover was US$612.5 million.
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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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