■ Local shares close higher
Shares closed 0.54 percent higher yesterday as the continued appreciation in the Chinese yuan boosted local companies with exposure to Chinese markets, dealers said.
They said investor interest in such firms offset concerns over the fall in US chip giant Intel's share price overnight after its net profit plunged 39 percent in the fourth quarter.
The TAIEX was up 41.90 points at 7,833.98, on turnover of NT$102.01 billion (US$3.11 billion).
Risers led decliners 698 to 495, with 186 stocks unchanged.
■ Hsinchu International to delist
Hsinchu International Bank (新竹商銀) is to delist from the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TSE), with effect from today, according to a statement released yesterday by Standard Chartered Bank.
"Hsinchu Bank's shares will no longer be traded on the TSE. This means there will no longer be a TSE-regulated market for trading in Hsinchu International shares," the statement read.
Standard Chartered said it would purchase all remaining Hsinchu International shares during a 50-day period from today to March 8 at the price of NT$24.5 per share.
Standard Chartered currently holds approximately 96.4 percent of Hsinchu International shares following a successful tender offer in October last year and subsequent purchase of Hsinchu International shares in the open market, it said.
The TSE announced on Dec. 29 that it had granted approval for the delisting of Hsinchu International shares.
■ Cross-strait trade rises 18.2%
China's annual trade with Taiwan rose 18.2 percent last year to US$107.8 billion last year, the Chinese Cabinet's Taiwan Affairs Office said yesterday.
Taiwanese companies invested US$2.14 billion in China last year, the office's spokesman Yang Yi (楊毅) said.
China's imports from Taiwan rose 16.6 percent to US$87.1 billion, while exports to the nation were up 25.3 percent at US$20.7 billion, Yang said at a news conference.
The government says Taiwanese companies have invested more than US$100 billion in China since the early 1990s, setting up factories to produce goods ranging from computer chips to umbrellas.
■ Vibo to buy 52% of Trust Inc
Vibo Telecom Inc (威寶電信), the nation's only pure third-generation (3G) mobile service provider, said yesterday that it planned to buy 52 percent of Trust Inc (台灣優勢客服) for NT$75 million (US$2.29 million) to boost subscribers.
The investment would also give Vibo a foothold in the growing business process outsourcing market, where Trust Inc offers market survey and consultancy to customers in telecom, banking and other industries, Vibo said in a statement.
The new Trust Inc would boost its capital to NT$145 million, according to the statement. Vibo has 350,000 subscribers.
■ FSC signs MOU with British body
The Financial Supervisory Commission said it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Britain's Financial Service Authority on cooperation in financial supervision, information exchanges and assistance in probes into financial irregularities.
It is the first time the Cabinet-level commission has forged cooperative ties with a similar foreign financial supervisory body, the commission said on Tuesday.
Under the terms of the accord, the two sides will strengthen cooperation in financial supervision and investigations into suspected financial irregularities or crimes, it said.
■ NT dollar closes lower
The New Taiwan dollar lost ground against its US counterpart Wednesday, declining NT$0.017 to close at NT$32.792.
Turnover was US$910 million.
Shares of contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) came under pressure yesterday after a report that Apple Inc is looking to shift some orders from the Taiwanese company to Intel Corp. TSMC shares fell NT$55, or 2.4 percent, to close at NT$2,235 on the local main board, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. Despite the losses, TSMC is expected to continue to benefit from sound fundamentals, as it maintains a lead over its peers in high-end process development, analysts said. “The selling was a knee-jerk reaction to an Intel-Apple report over the weekend,” Mega International Investment Services Corp (兆豐國際投顧) analyst Alex Huang
TRANSITION: With the closure, the company would reorganize its Taiwanese unit to a sales and service-focused model, Bridgestone said Bridgestone Corp yesterday announced it would cease manufacturing operations at its tire plant in Hsinchu County’s Hukou Township (湖口), affecting more than 500 workers. Bridgestone Taiwan Co (台灣普利司通) said in a statement that the decision was based on the Tokyo-based tire maker’s adjustments to its global operational strategy and long-term market development considerations. The Taiwanese unit would be reorganized as part of the closure, effective yesterday, and all related production activities would be concluded, the statement said. Under the plan, Bridgestone would continue to deepen its presence in the Taiwanese market, while transitioning to a sales and service-focused business model, it added. The Hsinchu
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has approved a capital budget of US$31.28 billion for production expansion to meet long-term development needs during the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. The company’s board meeting yesterday approved the capital appropriation plan for purposes such as the installation of advanced technology capacity and fab construction, the world’s largest contract chipmaker said in a statement. At an earnings conference last month, TSMC forecast that its capital expenditure for this year would be at the higher end of the US$52 billion to US$56 billion range it forecast in January in response to robust demand for 5G, AI and
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) investment project in Arizona has progressed better than expected, but it still faces challenges such as water and labor shortages, National Development Council (NDC) Minister Yeh Chun-hsien (葉俊顯) said yesterday. Speaking with reporters after visiting TSMC’s Arizona hub and attending the SelectUSA Investment Summit in Maryland last week, Yeh said TSMC’s Arizona site turned a profit of NT$16.14 billion (US$514 million) last year in its first full year of mass production. “TSMC told me it was surprised by the smooth trial run of the first fab, which has left the company optimistic about the project’s outlook,”
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