Acer Inc (宏碁), the world’s No. 4 computer maker, yesterday said it would gain NT$158 million (US$5.44 million) in profits by selling all the shares it owns in a local electronics retail chain as part of the company’s efforts to refocus on its core PC business.
The Taipei-based company said it planned to sell 6.54 million common shares of E-Life Mall Corp (全國電子) for NT$340 million, at a price of no less than NT$50 per share, Acer said in a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday.
The sale is aimed at helping the company concentrate on the operation of its core PC business and better utilizing company resources via offloading non-core businesses at a proper time, Acer said in the filing.
Before the transaction, Acer’s stake in E-Life was about 6.59 percent, it said.
The announcement came after Acer posted a loss for the second quarter of NT$6.79 billion, the company said last week.
The losses were made after the company exercised a huge US$150 million inventory write-off and spent US$30 million restructuring its European unit, including severance pay for former high-ranking executives.
The company’s board yesterday also signed off on the management’s financial report for the first six months, during which Acer posted a net loss of NT$5.64 billion. As of June 30, Acer booked more than NT$22.7 billion cash and cash equivalent, according to a separate stock exchange filing yesterday.
Separately, Acer announced yesterday it would promote Lilia Wang (王美麗), global controller of the operation finance unit, to the company’s chief financial officer in charge of Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) operations, a move that is designed to help reconstruct the ailing division.
“Acer in EMEA is currently going through changes in its business model and financial management focus. Wang has been chosen to step into the role of EMEA CFO for her long experience in financial audit and control,” the company said in an e-mailed statement.
Wang will continue to be the company’s global controller and her new position takes effect today. She will replace Tu Che-min (杜哲民), who will remain the company’s chief financial executive, Acer said.
Acer shares rose 6.71 percent to end at NT$35 on the stock exchange before announcements about the share sale of E-Life Mall and Wang’s appointment. The stock has plunged 61.15 percent so far this year versus a decline of 13.72 percent on the TAIEX.
This story has been updated since it was first published.
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