The total market value of listed companies in Taiwan dropped by nearly 20 percent last year from the previous year, led by smartphone maker HTC Corp, which saw its market value lose as much as NT$312.4 billion, Taiwan Stock Exchange Corp (TWSE, 台灣證交所) tallies showed.
The latest TWSE statistics showed that the total market value of all listed firms fell by NT$4.59 trillion, or 19.29 percent, to NT$19.22 trillion last year, with the average daily transaction value declining by 5.05 percent to NT$109.29 billion.
The benchmark TAIEX ended last year at 7,072.08 points, a loss of 1,900.42 points, or 21.18 percent, from 8,972.50 at the end of 2010.
Over the past year, HTC has been fighting patent lawsuits with Apple Inc and facing intensified competition from Samsung Electronics Co, pushing the firm’s shares down in the second half of last year to end at NT$497 on Friday, the final trading session of the year.
As a result, HTC saw its market value reduced to NT$428.44 billion at the end of last year from NT$740.84 billion a year earlier, becoming the nation’s ninth--largest listed company in terms of market capitalization, TWSE data showed.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, remained the nation’s biggest company by market value, as TWSE data showed the firm had a market capitalization of NT$1.92 trillion as of Friday, up by nearly NT$120 billion year-on-year.
Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化), the nation’s only listed oil refiner, became the nation’s -second-largest listed company, with a market value of NT$893.54 billion as of Friday. Electronics manufacturer Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) was third, with NT$886.13 billion, according to TWSE data.
The number of listed companies reached 772 last year, up 51 from the previous year, while the number of primary and secondary listings by foreign companies reached 20 last year, according to TWSE.
For the whole of last year, foreign and Chinese investors bought a total of NT$5.75 triilion in Taiwan’s stocks and sold a total of NT$6.26 trillion, resulting in a net sale of NT$277.65 billion in local shares, TWSE data showed.
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