Shares of Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc (ASE, 日月光半導體) rallied 3.93 percent yesterday, after the company announced it had sold US$400 million in corporate bonds at a 30 percent premium.
ASE, the world’s top chip testing and packaging service provider, sold its five-year convertible bonds at NT$33.085 per share, which represented a 30 percent premium over its closing share price of NT$25.45 on Thursday.
The bonds are scheduled to be issued and listed on the Singapore market on Thursday. The zero-coupon bonds are due on Sept. 5, 2018, the company said.
The high premium showed investors’ positive outlook on ASE, as the company is expanding production capacity and upgrading technology to meeting rising demand.
The company said earlier it plans to earmark between US$700 million and US$750 million for capital expenditure this year.
“We are pleased about the fund-raising program as the proceeds will be used in boosting high-end packaging capacity, which will help enhance ASE’s competitiveness,” SinoPac Securities Co (永豐金證券) said in a report.
In addition to the US$400 million overseas corporate bonds, SinoPac said ASE’s board also approved the issuing of as many as 160 million new shares via rights issue. The brokerage did not say where it obtained the information.
In total, the new fund-raising programs would only dilute ASE’s capital shares by about 6.8 percent, SinoPac said. That would erode the company’s earnings by between NT$0.12 per share and NT$0.14 per share, next year, if all those corporate bonds were all converted into common shares.
ASE’s board said the bonds will only dilute the firm’s capital shares between 6.3 percent and 6.8 percent.
SinoPac forecasts that ASE’s revenue will grow 8.5 percent annually next year to NT$230.1 billion (US$7.7 billion). Earnings per share is expected to increase to NT$2.28 next year, it said.
SinoPac maintained its “buy” rating on ASE with its target price at NT$30.
However, Yuanta Securities Co (元大證券) kept its “neutral” rating on ASE, saying the recent inventory correction would limit its growth and lead to a lower gross margin.
Shares of ASE ended at NT$26.45 in Taipei trading yesterday.
PROTECTIONISM: China hopes to help domestic chipmakers gain more market share while preparing local tech companies for the possibility of more US sanctions Beijing is stepping up pressure on Chinese companies to buy locally produced artificial intelligence (AI) chips instead of Nvidia Corp products, part of the nation’s effort to expand its semiconductor industry and counter US sanctions. Chinese regulators have been discouraging companies from purchasing Nvidia’s H20 chips, which are used to develop and run AI models, sources familiar with the matter said. The policy has taken the form of guidance rather than an outright ban, as Beijing wants to avoid handicapping its own AI start-ups and escalating tensions with the US, said the sources, who asked not to be identified because the
Taipei is today suspending its US$2.5 trillion stock market as Super Typhoon Krathon approaches Taiwan with strong winds and heavy rain. The nation is not conducting securities, currency or fixed-income trading, statements from its stock and currency exchanges said. Yesterday, schools and offices were closed in several cities and counties in southern and eastern Taiwan, including in the key industrial port city of Kaohsiung. Taiwan, which started canceling flights, ship sailings and some train services earlier this week, has wind and rain advisories in place for much of the island. It regularly experiences typhoons, and in July shut offices and schools as
FALLING BEHIND: Samsung shares have declined more than 20 percent this year, as the world’s largest chipmaker struggles in key markets and plays catch-up to rival SK Hynix Samsung Electronics Co is laying off workers in Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand as part of a plan to reduce its global headcount by thousands of jobs, sources familiar with the situation said. The layoffs could affect about 10 percent of its workforces in those markets, although the numbers for each subsidiary might vary, said one of the sources, who asked not to be named because the matter is private. Job cuts are planned for other overseas subsidiaries and could reach 10 percent in certain markets, the source said. The South Korean company has about 147,000 in staff overseas, more than half
Her white-gloved, waistcoated uniform impeccable, 22-year-old Hazuki Okuno boards a bullet train replica to rehearse the strict protocols behind the smooth operation of a Japanese institution turning 60 Tuesday. High-speed Shinkansen trains began running between Tokyo and Osaka on Oct. 1, 1964, heralding a new era for rail travel as Japan grew into an economic superpower after World War II. The service remains integral to the nation’s economy and way of life — so keeping it dazzlingly clean, punctual and accident-free is a serious job. At a 10-story, state-of-the-art staff training center, Okuno shouted from the window and signaled to imaginary colleagues, keeping
RSS