The Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE, 台灣證交所) yesterday launched a “Taiwan Top 99 Employers” index to encourage corporate social responsibility through the employment of more people.
The main criteria for selecting the 99 companies include profit per employee and turnover rate, according to the stock exchange. Those companies with turnover rates of 1 percent or lower will not be selected, the exchange said.
As for profit-making ability, the exchange said, this will be calculated on the basis of a company’s average net profits over the past five years, divided by the number of employees in the last year of that period.
The index, which is compiled by the stock exchange and Research Affiliates LLC (銳聯資產管理), is composed of the 18 highest profit-making firms in the banking and insurance sector, the 48 top-earning electronics and technology firms and the 33 most profitable companies in the traditional industries.
Currently, Cathay Financial Holdings Co (國泰金控), Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) and Nan Ya Plastics Corp (南亞塑膠) are the leaders in these three sectors.
In the Taiwan Top 99 Employers index, Cathay Financial has the biggest weighting of 8.31 percent, because the company emplys about 43,000 people in Taiwan.
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), the world’s largest electronics parts maker, only ranks as the 22nd-largest in weighting because the company employs just 5,927 people in Taiwan. The company has a total workforce of about 610,000 worldwide.
The exchange said the list would be an indicator of the companies’ social responsibility, which will be mirrored in their stock prices as well as in public opinion.
Separately, Ta Yang Group Holdings Ltd (大洋集團控股), a China-based manufacturer of silicon rubber devices, is seeking regulatory approval to issue Taiwan depositary receipts (TDRs) on the main board, the TWSE said yesterday.
According to the company’s prospectus, Ta Yang, which runs production facilities mainly in Dongguan, Guangdong Province, is planning to issue 40 million TDRs, each of which would represent three common shares of the company, which is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Ta Yang said it hopes to raise NT$480 million (US$16.39 million) from the TDR sale and plans to use most of the funds to build a new self-owned plant in China’s Guangxi Province to boost its competitiveness.
The company’s silicon rubber devices are used in consumer electronics such as keypads for computers and notebooks, and mobile phone handsets, as well as in automotive peripheral products.
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