BenQ to sell buildings
Local electronics maker BenQ Corp (明基) yesterday signed an agreement with local insurer Shin Kong Life Insurance Co (新光人壽) to sell two office buildings in Taipei for NT$5.037 billion as part of ongoing efforts to repay debts.
BenQ is expecting to gain NT$1.2 billion (US$36.5 million) from the assets, according to a statement. The transaction will be closed in the next 40 to 60 days.
BenQ would lease one of the buildings, the statement said.
BenQ's Taipei headquarters is a 14-story building with four basement levels, while the adjacent structure is an 11-story building, also with four basement levels.
NCC keeps Tai Yi hanging
Tai Yi Digital Broadcasting (台倚數位廣播) may push back its formal launch date from next quarter after a year-long pilot run because its license review has stalled.
The National Communications Commission yesterday said that it needed more time for discussion before granting Tai Yi a digital audio broadcasting (DAB) license.
Overseas companies are restricted from directly or indirectly investing in local terrestrial television and radio stations.
Tai Yi, a joint venture between the nation's third-biggest mobile operator Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大) and handset maker E-Ten Information Systems Co (倚天資訊), aims to be the nation's first digital audio broadcaster.
Overseas investors currently hold a 40.47 percent share in Taiwan Mobile and have a 1.59 percent share of E-Ten.
Tax take drops
The treasury took in NT$283.7 billion (US$8.66 billion) in taxes last month, down by 3.5 percent from a year ago, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday.
The biggest drop came from income tax revenue, which fell NT$7.2 billion, or 3.2 percent, from a year ago to NT$221.4 billion, because of a higher comparison base last year, the ministry's statistics department said.
Securities transaction tax income jumped 65.3 percent to NT$11.7 billion with daily stock transaction volume last month at NT$150.3 billion, the highest since 2005.
In the first half of the year tax revenues reached NT$960.1 billion, up 6.8 percent from a year ago. The figure accounted for 59.5 percent of the government target.
Profit-taking limits gains
Shares closed 0.16 percent higher yesterday in active trade, largely extending the recent liquidity-driven upswing, dealers said.
However, profit-taking emerged to put a cap on the gains as investors stopped short of selling down holdings excessively over expectations of an extended bull run ahead of elections early next year, they said.
The TAIEX closed up 14.89 points at 9,384.73 on turnover of NT$227.05 billion (US$6.92 billion).
On the foreign exchange market, the New Taiwan dollar fell NT$0.086 to close at NT$32.752 against its US counterpart.
Turnover was US$926 million on the Taipei Forex Inc.
TSMC reports sales drop
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufact-uring Co (TSMC, 台積電) said yesterday that it posted sales of NT$136.20 billion for the six months ending last month, down 14.08 percent from a year earlier.
Last month's sales came in at NT$25.25 billion, up from NT$25.09 billion achieved in May but down 7.5 percent from a year earlier.
In the second quarter, consolidated sales stood at NT$74.92 billion, down from NT$82.12 billion a year earlier, the company said.
The second-quarter tally compares with TSMC's guidance for the period of an increase in consolidated sales to NT$73 billion to NT$75 billion from NT$64.90 billion posted in the first quarter.
Anna Bhobho, a 31-year-old housewife from rural Zimbabwe, was once a silent observer in her home, excluded from financial and family decisionmaking in the deeply patriarchal society. Today, she is a driver of change in her village, thanks to an electric tricycle she owns. In many parts of rural sub-Saharan Africa, women have long been excluded from mainstream economic activities such as operating public transportation. However, three-wheelers powered by green energy are reversing that trend, offering financial opportunities and a newfound sense of importance. “My husband now looks up to me to take care of a large chunk of expenses,
SECTOR LEADER: TSMC can increase capacity by as much as 20 percent or more in the advanced node part of the foundry market by 2030, an analyst said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to lead its peers in the advanced 2-nanometer process technology, despite competition from Samsung Electronics Co and Intel Corp, TrendForce Corp analyst Joanne Chiao (喬安) said. TSMC’s sophisticated products and its large production scale are expected to allow the company to continue dominating the global 2-nanometer process market this year, Chiao said. The world’s largest contract chipmaker is scheduled to begin mass production of chips made on the 2-nanometer process in its Hsinchu fab in the second half of this year. It would also hold a ceremony on Monday next week to
TECH CLUSTER: The US company’s new office is in the Shalun Smart Green Energy Science City, a new AI industry base and cybersecurity hub in southern Taiwan US chip designer Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) yesterday launched an office in Tainan’s Gueiren District (歸仁), marking a significant milestone in the development of southern Taiwan’s artificial intelligence (AI) industry, the Tainan City Government said in a statement. AMD Taiwan general manager Vincent Chern (陳民皓) presided over the opening ceremony for the company’s new office at the Shalun Smart Green Energy Science City (沙崙智慧綠能科學城), a new AI industry base and cybersecurity hub in southern Taiwan. Facilities in the new office include an information processing center, and a research and development (R&D) center, the Tainan Economic Development Bureau said. The Ministry
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday signed a letter of intent with Alaska Gasline Development Corp (AGDC), expressing an interest to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) and invest in the latter’s Alaska LNG project, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement. Under the agreement, CPC is to participate in the project’s upstream gas investment to secure stable energy resources for Taiwan, the ministry said. The Alaska LNG project is jointly promoted by AGDC and major developer Glenfarne Group LLC, as Alaska plans to export up to 20 million tonnes of LNG annually from 2031. It involves constructing an 1,290km
RSS