China Steel Corp (
Net income fell 5.5 percent to NT$12.1 billion (US$373 million) compared with NT$12.8 billion a year earlier, according to figures derived by Bloomberg from the nine-month result announced by the Kaohsiung-based company yesterday. The steelmaker last had a profit decline in the third quarter of last year.
China Steel joins South Korea's Posco in reporting lower profit because of higher raw-material, energy and shipping costs. Quarterly profit at Posco, Asia's biggest steelmaker by market value, fell 1.2 percent, while JFE Holdings Inc, Japan's second-largest mill, said Oct. 25 that profit dropped 10 percent.
"China Steel may not be able to completely pass on the rise in coal and iron-ore costs," Jennifer Liang, a Taipei-based analyst at KGI Securities Co, said before the earnings announcement.
She has an "underperform" rating on the stock.
Third-quarter sales rose 8.9 percent from a year earlier to NT$52.1 billion, after a 21 percent gain in the previous three months, according to monthly filings to the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Nine-month net income climbed to NT$38.3 billion, or NT$3.35 per share, from NT$26.7 billion, or NT$2.33, the company said in a statement to the stock exchange yesterday.
China Steel shares fell 0.9 percent to NT$49 by the close of trade before the earnings were announced. The stock has surged 46 percent this year, compared with the 25 percent increase in the TAIEX.
The firm increased third quarter prices for local customers by 2.4 percent from the previous three months after a 3.2 percent gain in the April to June period.
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