Shares close higher
Taiwanese shares closed 1.67 percent higher yesterday on bargain hunting, with the bellwether electronic sector in focus, dealers said.
The weighted index rose 116.37 points at 7,080.97 off a low of 6,929.87 and a high of 7,106.64 on turnover of NT$94.53 billion (US$3 billion).
Gainers outnumbered losers by 1,624 to 441 with 417 stocks unchanged.
AUO to build four plants
AU Optronics Corp (AUO, 友達光電), the world’s third-largest maker of liquid-crystal displays, plans to invest NT$400 billion (US$12.7 billion) to build four LCD plants in Taiwan in the next decade to meet demand for flat-screen televisions.
The panel maker plans to hire 10,000 workers for the factories, which will be located in Taichung, Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) said in an e-mailed statement yesterday after a meeting with AUO chairman Lee Kun-yao (李焜耀).
AUO will begin construction of a 10th-generation factory in the second half of next year, with production scheduled to start in 2011 or 2012, the statement said.
Lite-On earnings rise 112%
Lite-On Technology Corp (光寶科技) yesterday announced second-quarter net earnings of NT$1.35 billion (US$42.9 million), or earnings per share of NT$0.63, an increase of 112 percent from the previous quarter, a company statement showed.
The company attributed the growth to strong growth in high-end products, including power supply, imaging products and optoelectronic components, it said.
Gross and operation margins reached 10 percent and 2.7 percent respectively in the second quarter, presenting steady improvements from the first quarter, it added.
In the first half of the year, Lite-On’s revenue reached NT$78.5 billion, while net profit was NT$1.99 billion, or earnings per share of NT$0.93.
Corps promotes energy thrift
A business conglomerate energy-saving corps was established yesterday under the sponsorship of the Bureau of Energy.
The purpose of the group is to help leading manufacturing companies, which are also major energy consumers, save energy and cut carbon dioxide emissions by training staff members to become “seeded trainers” responsible for energy conservation, Bureau of Energy Director Yeh Hui-ching (葉惠青) said.
At an inaugural ceremony, representatives of 12 conglomerates promised to cut energy use by 6 percent in three years, a volume equivalent to 781,000 kiloliters, or 4.9 million barrels, of oil.
“The amount of energy saved can also be expressed as NT$16.6 billion [US$535 million] or a reduction of carbon dioxide emissions by 2.14 million tonnes, which would require the equivalent of 5,502 Ta-an forest parks to absorb,” Yeh said.
China Steel boosts income
China Steel Corp (中鋼), the nation’s largest steelmaker, said yesterday that its first-half net income climbed by 2.7 percent to NT$26.9 billion.
The Kaohsiung-based firm said in a stock exchange filing that its board approved a plan to sell as much as NT$10 billion in bonds for use as working capital.
China Steel raised prices by an average 19 percent for domestic customers in the second quarter. The company is scheduled to announce fourth-quarter prices for domestic customers today.
NT dollar gains ground
The New Taiwan dollar gained ground slightly against the US dollar on the Taipei Foreign Exchange yesterday, rising NT$0.008 to close at NT$31.481. Turnover was US$1.164 billion.
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