TAIEX breaks 7,900 barrier
The TAIEX closed above 7,900 for the first time in nearly two weeks yesterday, even though turnover was the lowest for any session this month.
The weighted index closed up 51.73 points, or 0.66 percent, at 7,918.61. Turnover totaled NT$56.94 billion (US$1.90 billion).
Hannstar back in the black
Local LCD panel maker HannStar Display Corp (瀚宇彩晶) yesterday posted net profits of NT$171 million, or earnings per share of NT$0.06, for the fourth quarter of last year on improving gross margin.
That made HannStar the first local flat-panel maker to post quarterly net profits amid an industry slump over the past two years.
HannStar lost NT$328 million in the third quarter and NT$1.84 billion in the fourth quarter of 2011.
Gross margin jumped to 26 percent last quarter, compared with 14 percent in the third quarter of last year and 3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011.
The average selling price dropped to US$57 last quarter, from US$60 the previous quarter, while shipments fell 4.5 percent quarter-on-quarter to 5.14 million units, the company said.
Operating margin also rose to 14 percent last quarter, from 5 percent in the prior quarter and minus-8 percent the previous year.
Futures tax to be cut on Monday
The Ministry of Finance announced yesterday that the futures transaction tax would be cut by 50 percent to 0.00002 percent from 0.00004 percent from Monday next week to the end of 2015.
The cut is expected to create 400 to 500 job opportunities, with potential tax losses from the cut expected to be recovered after two years, the ministry said.
Green Energy stays in the red
Green Energy Technology Inc (綠能科技), the nation’s biggest solar wafer maker, said on Thursday that its quarterly losses widened to NT$1.03 billion last quarter, from a loss of NT$779 million in the third quarter of last year.
The company blamed consistently falling solar wafer prices for the loss.
For the whole of last year, Green Energy lost NT$3.57 billion, compared with a loss of NT$2.33 billion the previous year.
The company is scheduled to hold an annual shareholders’ meeting on June 25 to seek approval of its annual financial statement.
Debt crisis hits Taiwan Takisawa
Taiwan Takisawa Technology Co Ltd (瀧澤科), one of the nation’s largest designers and assemblers of computerized numerical control lathes and machining centers, posted NT$131.44 million in net profits for last year, down 11.38 percent from NT$148.32 million the previous year, according to a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Earnings per share fell to NT$1.85 last year, from NT$2.29 the previous year, according to the filing.
The company attributed the decline to the global economic slowdown, primarily the debt crisis in Europe, along with growing competition from its Chinese rivals.
NT dollar ends week higher
The New Taiwan dollar closed up 0.4 percent, or NT$0.065, at NT$29.875 against its US counterpart yesterday.
That saw the local currency rise 0.1 percent during the five-day trading period. Turnover was US$517 million.
The central bank has sold the local currency just before the close of trading on most days in the past year, traders who asked not to be identified said.
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
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
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has approved a capital budget of US$31.28 billion for production expansion to meet long-term development needs during the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. The company’s board meeting yesterday approved the capital appropriation plan for purposes such as the installation of advanced technology capacity and fab construction, the world’s largest contract chipmaker said in a statement. At an earnings conference last month, TSMC forecast that its capital expenditure for this year would be at the higher end of the US$52 billion to US$56 billion range it forecast in January in response to robust demand for 5G, AI and
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