FINANCE
Hua Nan to offer 400+ jobs
Hua Nan Financial Holdings Co (華南金控) on Thursday said that its subsidiaries are to offer more than 400 employment opportunities as part of the conglomerate’s overall expansion plan. Hua Nan Financial said that its banking arm, Hun Nan Commercial Bank (華南銀行), is to seek 396 new employees, while other subsidiaries such as Hun Nan Investment Trust Co (華南永昌投信), Hua Nan Asset Management Co (華南管理顧問) and HNCB Insurance Agency (華銀保險), will be looking to recruit more than 10 employees. Hua Nan Financial said that Hua Nan Bank will focus on performance rather the seniority as its criteria for promoting new workers. It added that new employees will have the chance to work at different divisions across the nation or go to overseas offices to bolster their work experience.
TRADE
Taiwan’s export ranking falls
The nation’s global ranking in merchandise exports fell two notches to 20th last year from a year earlier, according to a WTO report released on Monday last week. Last year, Taiwan’s trade in merchandise grew 1 percent year-on-year, higher than Singapore’s zero percent growth, but lower than South Korea’s 2 percent and eclipsed by Hong Kong’s 9 percent growth. The nation was leapfrogged in the rankings by Spain and India, which placed 18th and 19th respectively. In terms of merchandise imports, Taiwan’s ranking remained the same as in 2012 at 18th. In terms of commercial services exports, the nation’s global ranking dropped to 26th last year from 25th in the previous year, while its ranking in commercial services imports declined to No. 30 from No. 28 over the same period.
INVESTOR RESILIENCE? An analyst said that despite near-term pressures, foreign investors tend to view NT dollar strength as a positive signal for valuation multiples Morgan Stanley has flagged a potential 10 percent revenue decline for Taiwan’s tech hardware sector this year, as a sharp appreciation of the New Taiwan dollar begins to dent the earnings power of major exporters. In what appears to be the first such warning from a major foreign brokerage, the US investment bank said the currency’s strength — fueled by foreign capital inflows and expectations of US interest rate cuts — is compressing profit margins for manufacturers with heavy exposure to US dollar-denominated revenues. The local currency has surged about 10 percent against the greenback over the past quarter and yesterday breached
MARKET FACTORS: Navitas Semiconductor Inc said that Powerchip is to take over from TSMC as its supplier of high-voltage gallium nitride chips Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday in a statement said that it would phase out its compound semiconductor gallium nitride (GaN) business over the next two years, citing market dynamics. The decision would not affect its financial targets announced previously, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker said. “We are working closely with our customers to ensure a smooth transition and remain committed to meeting their needs during this period,” it said. “Our focus continues to be on delivering sustained value to our partners and the market.” TSMC’s latest move came unexpectedly, as the chipmaker had said in its annual report that it has
Gudeng Precision Industrial Co (家登精密), the sole extreme ultraviolet pod supplier to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), yesterday said it has trimmed its revenue growth target for this year as US tariffs are likely to depress customer demand and weigh on the whole supply chain. Gudeng’s remarks came after the US on Monday notified 14 countries, including Japan and South Korea, of new tariff rates that are set to take effect on Aug. 1. Taiwan is still negotiating for a rate lower than the 32 percent “reciprocal” tariffs announced by the US in April, which it later postponed to today. The
ELECTRONICS: Strong growth in cloud services and smart consumer electronics offset computing declines, helping the company to maintain sales momentum, Hon Hai said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) on Saturday announced that its sales for last month rose 10 percent year-on-year, driven by strong growth in cloud and networking products amid the ongoing artificial intelligence (AI) boom. The company, also known internationally as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), reported consolidated sales of NT$540.24 billion (US$18.67 billion) for the month, the highest ever for the period, and a 10.09 percent increase from a year earlier, although it was down 12.26 percent from the previous month. Hon Hai, which is Apple Inc’s primary iPhone assembler and makes servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s AI accelerators, said its cloud
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