Shin Kong injects funds
The board of Shin Kong Financial Holding Co (新光金控) yesterday approved injecting NT$18 billion (US$556.5 million) into subsidiary Shin Kong Life Insurance Co (新光人壽) by taking up the life insurer’s common shares, the company said in a press statement.
The financial services provider said that the capital injection will be funded by the proceeds of NT$13.1 billion (US$406 million) from its issuance of global depository receipts in July and another NT$5.3 billion to be raised via the issuance of common shares to be completed on Dec. 10.
Meanwhile, Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控) yesterday said in a press statement that its Shanghai-based non-life insurance subsidiary has received a regulatory approval in Fujian Province to become the first Taiwanese non-life insurer to set up presence there.
Cathay seeks Shanghai branch
Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控) will seek to upgrade its representative office in Shanghai to a branch and is hoping the new branch will undertake business in Chinese yuan, company president Chen Tsu-pei (陳祖培) said on Thursday.
Chen said that upgrading its liaison office in Shanghai will be the Cathay group’s priority and that it will involve an investment of 200 million yuan (US$29.2 million).
The company expects to begin earning profits when the business turnover of the new branch reaches US$160 million, Chen said.
Delta unveils hybrid
Delta Electronics Inc (台達電子) yesterday unveiled its newly developed gasoline-electric hybrid propulsion system, making it the first Taiwanese company to enter the sector.
The company said the system is undergoing road tests, and preliminary results show that the system’s fuel consumption is only 33 percent to 50 percent of conventional gasoline engines.
The system is expected to enter mass production within 18 months, which will increase the company’s annual revenue by NT$10 billion within three years, Delta said.
Simon Chang (張群海), general manager of Delta’s Industrial Automation Business Unit, said with extensive design and manufacturing experience in automobile electronics components, Delta enjoys an advantage over other players in the industry when it comes to the automobile electronics market.
Chang said his company is planning to cooperate with a Chinese automobile company in manufacturing the propulsion system, in light of the vast hybrid vehicle market in China as environmental awareness continues to increase.
CSBC in power talks
CSBC Corp, Taiwan (台灣國際造船), the nation’s leading shipbuilder, said it was in talks with China Guangdong Nuclear Power Holdings Co (廣東核電集團) on possible power plant assembly orders, the Chinese-language Economic Daily News reported yesterday, citing CSBC chairman Cheng Wen-long (鄭文隆). The newspaper said the Kaohsiung-based shipbuilder hoped to use its experience as the containment vessel contractor for Taiwan Power Co’s (台電) third and fourth nuclear reactors to tap the nuclear power business in China, after it saw container ship orders hit by delays and cancellations amid the global economic crisis.
NT dollar declines
The New Taiwan dollar lost ground against the US dollar on the Taipei Foreign Exchange yesterday, declining NT$0.101 to close at NT$32.345.
A total of US$1.33 billion changed hands during the day’s trading.
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
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to remain Apple Inc’s primary chip manufacturing partner despite reports that Apple could shift some orders to Intel Corp, industry experts said yesterday. The comments came after The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Apple and Intel had reached a preliminary agreement following more than a year of negotiations for Intel to manufacture some chips for Apple devices. Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (台灣經濟研究院) economist Arisa Liu (劉佩真) said TSMC’s advanced packaging technologies, including integrated fan-out and chip-on-wafer-on-substrate, remain critical to the performance of Apple’s A-series and M-series chips. She said Intel and Samsung
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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
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