TAX REFUND
99 Index performs well
The Taiwan Employment Creation 99 Index has outperformed the benchmark TAIEX after it was launched on Dec. 30, the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) said yesterday. The employment creation index, which was jointly compiled by the stock exchange and the Research Affiliates LLC, has generated a return of 3.6 percent since its debut, higher than a 0.62 percent return posted by the TAIEX, the exchange said. The newly unveiled index’s return also surpassed a 0.98 percent return generated by the Taiwan 50 Index, which was compiled by the TWSE and the FTSE Group and includes 50 of the largest capitalized blue chip stocks traded in Taiwan, it said.
CHEMICALS
DuPont starts tender
US chemical giant DuPont on Friday started its public tender offer to acquire Danish food ingredient and enzyme company Danisco, a deal worth US$6.3 billion, both companies said. The friendly takeover was announced last week, with Danisco’s board unanimously recommending its shareholders accept DuPont’s offer of 665 kroner (US$121.1) a share — a 25.0 percent jump on the last closing price — the US company said in a statement on Friday. DuPont said its offer would end on Feb. 22 at 2200 GMT. DuPont will withdraw Danisco from the Copenhagen stock exchange after the purchase goes through.
IRELAND
Finance bill unveiled
The Irish government on Friday unveiled the finance bill designed to finally cement the 85 billion euro (US$114 billion) bailout package agreed with the EU and the IMF in November. The bill, to be studied by parliament over the coming weeks, puts into place a series of measures unveiled by Finance Minister Brian Lenihan in his budget last month. Prime Minister Brian Cowen on Thursday called an early general election for March 11 and stressed that passing the bill through parliament beforehand was his chief concern. Lenihan said the bill would implement a tax system that supported Ireland’s potential to grow its way out of the financial crisis.
MINING
Vale SA denies speculation
Vale SA, the world’s largest iron-ore exporter, denied speculation it’s in talks to buy a fertilizer producer, saying the company is focused on organic growth. Speculation that Vale is in negotiations or presented an offer for the company, which it didn’t identify, are “totally unfounded,” Rio de Janeiro-based Vale said on Friday in a regulatory filing. Vale, together with BHP Billiton Ltd, are the likeliest candidates to bid for Cargill Inc’s 64 percent holding in fertilizer producer Mosaic Co, Canadian newspaper Globe and Mail reported on Thursday, without saying where it got the information.
AVIATION
BA-Iberia merger complete
A multibillion-euro merger between British Airways (BA) and Iberia of Spain, creating Europe’s second biggest airline, was completed on Friday, but immediately hit turbulence as BA staff voted to strike. “The merger has now become effective,” BA and Iberia in a statement said as shares in the new company, International Airline Group (IAG), prepare to trade for the first time tomorrow. British union Unite later said that BA cabin crew had voted in favor of fresh strikes in a long-running dispute with the airline over pay and other perks, although it did not mention any dates. The vote was part of a dispute that prompted 22 days of strike action last year.
To many, Tatu City on the outskirts of Nairobi looks like a success. The first city entirely built by a private company to be operational in east Africa, with about 25,000 people living and working there, it accounts for about two-thirds of all foreign investment in Kenya. Its low-tax status has attracted more than 100 businesses including Heineken, coffee brand Dormans, and the biggest call-center and cold-chain transport firms in the region. However, to some local politicians, Tatu City has looked more like a target for extortion. A parade of governors have demanded land worth millions of dollars in exchange
An Indonesian animated movie is smashing regional box office records and could be set for wider success as it prepares to open beyond the Southeast Asian archipelago’s silver screens. Jumbo — a film based on the adventures of main character, Don, a large orphaned Indonesian boy facing bullying at school — last month became the highest-grossing Southeast Asian animated film, raking in more than US$8 million. Released at the end of March to coincide with the Eid holidays after the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, the movie has hit 8 million ticket sales, the third-highest in Indonesian cinema history, Film
BIG BUCKS: Chairman Wei is expected to receive NT$34.12 million on a proposed NT$5 cash dividend plan, while the National Development Fund would get NT$8.27 billion Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday announced that its board of directors approved US$15.25 billion in capital appropriations for long-term expansion to meet growing demand. The funds are to be used for installing advanced technology and packaging capacity, expanding mature and specialty technology, and constructing fabs with facility systems, TSMC said in a statement. The board also approved a proposal to distribute a NT$5 cash dividend per share, based on first-quarter earnings per share of NT$13.94, it said. That surpasses the NT$4.50 dividend for the fourth quarter of last year. TSMC has said that while it is eager
‘IMMENSE SWAY’: The top 50 companies, based on market cap, shape everything from technology to consumer trends, advisory firm Visual Capitalist said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) was ranked the 10th-most valuable company globally this year, market information advisory firm Visual Capitalist said. TSMC sat on a market cap of about US$915 billion as of Monday last week, making it the 10th-most valuable company in the world and No. 1 in Asia, the publisher said in its “50 Most Valuable Companies in the World” list. Visual Capitalist described TSMC as the world’s largest dedicated semiconductor foundry operator that rolls out chips for major tech names such as US consumer electronics brand Apple Inc, and artificial intelligence (AI) chip designers Nvidia Corp and Advanced
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