Alibaba IPO pushed back
The highly anticipated US initial public offering (IPO) by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (阿里巴巴) is set to take place after Sept. 1, Xinhua news agency yesterday quoted an anonymous source as saying.
The source said the roadshow for the IPO was originally scheduled for later this month, but would be postponed until after the US Labor Day holiday, Xinhua reported.
“If not delayed, the roadshow — to last about two weeks — might coincide with Wall Street’s traditional vacation time,” the source was quoted as saying. “Alibaba does not want to make the IPO process too hasty.”
Analysts say the offering could raise about US$15 billion or even more — putting it on par with Facebook Inc’s US$16 billion IPO in 2012 — and could value the firm between US$100 billion and US$200 billion or higher.
FSC advises diversification
The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) on Thursday urged domestic lenders to avoid saturation in real-estate loans to diversify credit risks.
The commission made clear that mortgage loans for second homes are subject to higher capital adequacy ratios of 100 percent, compared with 45 percent for first homes. Banks must conduct credit checks to make sure only one home is qualified for the lower requirement for an individual, as homeowners may apply for loans with different lenders, the regulator said.
The number of banks with heavy property loans dropped to five in May this year from 17 in 2011, it said, adding that real estate lending fell by NT$142.9 billion (US$4.7 billion) between the end of 2010 and May.
ASE plans ‘green bond’ issue
Semiconductor packaging and testing firm Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc (ASE, 日月光) plans to issue US$300 million in “green bonds” to fulfill its corporate responsibility in environmental protection.
The company said in a statement on Thursday that it had priced the bonds, due in 2017, at a coupon rate of 2.125 percent and would use the proceeds to fund environmentally friendly projects, including green building construction, wastewater recycling facilities and others that promote wastewater management and energy efficiency in manufacturing.
The bonds are to be issued on July 24 and be listed on the Singapore Exchange, ASE said.
Tech sector upbeat for Q3
More global information and communication technology companies had a more optimistic outlook overall for the third quarter of the year than they held for the previous quarter, a survey conducted by the Taipei Computer Association found.
In a statement released yesterday, the association said both buyer and exhibitor indices rose in the second quarter, indicating a warming economy.
The survey was conducted from June 3 to June 7 among 1,025 local suppliers exhibiting at Computex Taipei, the world’s second-largest computer trade show, and among 1,759 international buyers visiting the show this year.
HTC leads in buyer desire
As of Wednesday, HTC Corp (宏達電) was winning a poll for the most desirable smartphone brand, followed by world leader Samsung Electronics Co, the ongoing survey showed.
The poll conducted by UK-based magazine Mobile Choice has so far found that 25.8 percent of the respondents said they would like their next handset to come from HTC, while 21.3 percent chose Samsung and 17.9 percent preferred handsets from Apple Inc.
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