AmCham names new president
The American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Taipei appointed its former chairwoman Andrea Wu (吳王小珍) as president yesterday, filling in the vacancy her predecessor Richard Vuylsteke left behind in February. Wu’s appointment will take effect on July 1, a press statement said.
“With her extensive management experience and in-depth understanding of the chamber’s mission and values, the board is confident that Andrea will be a great leader of the AmCham office team,” AmCham chairwoman Tung Tai-chin (童台琴) was quoted as saying.
Wu was promoted to be the first female AmCham chairman in 2004 after having served as its vice chairman between 2002 and 2003. She has been serving as the country manager of United Airlines, Taiwan since 2000. Prior to United Airlines, she was in the real estate development business in California and Taipei for over 10 years.
NPL ratio drops 0.04 percent
Local banks saw the average non-performing loan (NPL) ratio fall 0.04 percentage points month-on-month to 1.65 percent at the end of last month, indicating a continual improvement in the banking sector’s asset quality, the Financial Supervisory Commission’s latest data showed on Thursday.
Bad loans at the nation’s 38 banks totaled NT$296.4 billion (US$9.73 billion) at the end of last month, a decline of NT$5.6 billion from the previous month, the commission said in a statement.
Outstanding loans grew by NT$28.1 billion month-on-month to NT$17.95 trillion last month, the statement said.
The data showed that 35 of the 38 local banks saw their NPL ratios drop to below 5 percent last month, with 28 banks’ ratios being lower than 2.5 percent.
The commission said it would closely watch banks with high bad loan ratios, such as Chinfon Commercial Bank (慶豐銀行) which reported the highest NPL ratio at 26.24 percent at the end of last month, followed by Bowa Bank’s (寶華銀行) 9.66 percent.
Chinatrust rises after report
Chinatrust Financial Holding Co (中信金控), the nation’s fourth-largest financial company by market value, rose the most in seven weeks in trading after the Chinese-language Economic Daily News reported Morgan Stanley will take a board seat.
Chinatrust advanced 2.7 percent to close at NT$31 in Taipei, the largest daily gain since April 11. Morgan Stanley will obtain one of Chinatrust’s seven board seats after the Taiwanese company’s June 13 shareholders meeting, the Taipei-based newspaper said, without citing anyone.
“We haven’t been informed Morgan Stanley plans to take a board seat,” Daniel Wu, chief investment officer of Chinatrust, who is on a visit to Hong Kong, said by telephone yesterday.
The New York-based firm has become the lender’s second-biggest shareholder with a 4.01 percent stake, after Chinatrust chairman Jeffrey Koo’s 7.29 percent, a faxed statement from Chinatrust said yesterday.
Inflows boost NT dollar
The NT dollar rose against its US counterpart yesterday, boosted by exporters’ strong purchases and foreign capital inflows, dealers said.
The local unit also gained support on speculation the central bank will use its appreciation to combat inflation, they said.
The NT dollar advanced NT$0.043, or 0.1 percent, to close at NT$30.413. Turnover was US$1.369 billion. For the week, the local currency rose 0.3 percent against the greenback.
Foreign fund managers bought a net NT$8.32 billion (US$274 million) in local shares for a second straight day.
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) is expected to share his views about the artificial intelligence (AI) industry’s prospects during his speech at the company’s 37th anniversary ceremony, as AI servers have become a new growth engine for the equipment manufacturing service provider. Lam’s speech is much anticipated, as Quanta has risen as one of the world’s major AI server suppliers. The company reported a 30 percent year-on-year growth in consolidated revenue to NT$1.41 trillion (US$43.35 billion) last year, thanks to fast-growing demand for servers, especially those with AI capabilities. The company told investors in November last year that
Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said it plans to ship its new 1 megawatt charging systems for electric trucks and buses in the first half of next year at the earliest. The new charging piles, which deliver up to 1 megawatt of charging power, are designed for heavy-duty electric vehicles, and support a maximum current of 1,500 amperes and output of 1,250 volts, Delta said in a news release. “If everything goes smoothly, we could begin shipping those new charging systems as early as in the first half of next year,” a company official said. The new
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