TAX
Treasury collects NT$1.96tn
The national treasury collected a record NT$1.96 trillion (US$61.26 billion) in tax revenues last year, 4.8 percent higher than the budget target, driven primarily by business and personal income taxes, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. Business income tax totaled NT$401.2 billion last year, while personal income tax amounted to NT$408.3 billion, the ministry said.
ELECTRONICS
Acer revenue falls
PC maker Acer Inc (宏碁) yesterday reported revenue of NT$85.67 billion for the last quarter, down 1.17 percent from a year earlier and 0.11 percent from the previous month. The firm posted revenue of NT$86.69 billion in the fourth quarter of last year and NT$85.68 billion in the previous quarter, according to a company filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange. Acer’s consolidated annual revenue totaled NT$329.83 billion last year, a decline of 8.43 percent from the previous year’s NT$360.19 billion. Acer shares dropped 1.43 percent to NT$20.65 in Taipei trading yesterday, underperforming the TAIEX, which fell 0.4 percent.
BANKING
FSC approves Wuhan branch
State-run Taiwan Business Bank (臺灣企銀) has won the the Financial Supervisory Commission’s (FSC) approval to set up a new branch in Wuhan, China, allowing the lender to strengthen services to Taiwanese firms in central China, the bank said in a statement yesterday. The new branch will be its second in China — the first was opened in Shanghai in August 2012. Wuhan, the eighth-largest city in China, is home to many Taiwanese aiming to take advantage of China’s GDP growth, the bank said, adding that it would reach out to small and medium-sized corporate customers there.
TECHNOLOGY
Hiwin posts revenue hike
Hiwin Technology Corp (上銀科技), the nation’s largest machine tool maker, last week reported NT$4.28 billion in sales for last quarter, bringing the company’s total revenue last year up 21.25 percent to NT$15.08 billion. The company made annual revenue of NT$12.44 in 2013. Last quarter’s figure jumped 10.59 percent from the previous year’s NT$3.87 billion, but only rose 1.18 percent from the previous quarter’s NT$4.23 billion. JPMorgan Securities Ltd said Hiwin’s sales growth momentum would resume from this quarter, due to healthy order momentum from machine tool vendors and incremental demand for industrial robots. Contribution from industrial robots is forecast to account for 10 to 15 percent of the company’s estimated revenue of NT$17.69 billion this year, JPMorgan said in a note on Thursday last week.
OPTICS
St Shine struggles in Japan
Contact lens maker St Shine Optical Co Ltd (精華光學) might continue losing market share in Japan this year due to intense market competition and continued pricing pressure stemming from foreign exchange fluctuations, Deutsche Bank said in a client note on Wednesday last week. The company has forecast flat sales growth for this quarter from last quarter’s NT$1.34 billion, which rose 0.8 percent from the previous quarter, with momentum likely to pick up next quarter when clients launch new products. Deutsche Bank forecast St Shine to post 6 percent growth in year-on-year sales to NT$5.74 billion this year. Last year, the company’s sales totaled NT$5.41 billion, up 3.62 percent from 2013.
TECH PARTNERSHIP: The deal with Arizona-based Amkor would provide TSMC with advanced packing and test capacities, a requirement to serve US customers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is collaborating with Amkor Technology Inc to provide local advanced packaging and test capacities in Arizona to address customer requirements for geographical flexibility in chip manufacturing. As part of the agreement, TSMC, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, would contract turnkey advanced packaging and test services from Amkor at their planned facility in Peoria, Arizona, a joint statement released yesterday said. TSMC would leverage these services to support its customers, particularly those using TSMC’s advanced wafer fabrication facilities in Phoenix, Arizona, it said. The companies would jointly define the specific packaging technologies, such as TSMC’s Integrated
China’s economic planning agency yesterday outlined details of measures aimed at boosting the economy, but refrained from major spending initiatives. The piecemeal nature of the plans announced yesterday appeared to disappoint investors who were hoping for bolder moves, and the Shanghai Composite Index gave up a 10 percent initial gain as markets reopened after a weeklong holiday to end 4.59 percent higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dived 9.41 percent. Chinese National Development and Reform Commission Chairman Zheng Shanjie (鄭珊潔) said the government would frontload 100 billion yuan (US$14.2 billion) in spending from the government’s budget for next year in addition
Sales RecORD: Hon Hai’s consolidated sales rose by about 20 percent last quarter, while Largan, another Apple supplier, saw quarterly sales increase by 17 percent IPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) on Saturday reported its highest-ever quarterly sales for the third quarter on the back of solid global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) globally, said it posted NT$1.85 trillion (US$57.93 billion) in consolidated sales in the July-to-September quarter, up 19.46 percent from the previous quarter and up 20.15 percent from a year earlier. The figure beat the previous third-quarter high of NT$1.74 trillion recorded in 2022, company data showed. Due to rising demand for AI, Hon Hai said its cloud and networking division enjoyed strong sales
Protectionism: US trade chief Katherine Tai said the hikes would help to counter unfair trade practices from China, while boosting domestic clean energy investments US Trade Representative Katherine Tai (戴琪) defended stiff tariff hikes against countries such as China, saying that paired with investment, they were a “legitimate and constructive” tool for reinvigorating domestic industries. Tai’s comments come a week after sharp tariff increases on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs), EV batteries and solar cells took effect — with levies down the line on other products also recently finalized. The latest moves targeting US$18 billion in Chinese goods come weeks before next month’s US presidential election, with Democrats and Republicans pushing a hard line on China as competition between Washington and Beijing intensifies. In an interview on Thursday
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