BANKING
Yuan deposits rise
Yuan deposits at Taiwanese banks totaled 302.27 billion yuan (US$48.82 billion) at the end of last month, rising moderately from 300.6 billion yuan at the end of November, the central bank said yesterday. Last month’s yuan deposits included 247.11 billion yuan in savings accounts at 67 domestic banking units and 55.16 billion yuan in savings accounts at 59 offshore banking units, central bank data showed.
CHIP PACKAGERS
ASE to spin off unit
Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc (ASE, 日月光半導體), the world’s biggest chip packager, yesterday said its board approved plans to spin off of its subsidiary, Universal Scientific Industrial Co Ltd (USI, 環電), as part of an effort to enhance operational flexibility via structural adjustments. USI’s board also yesterday passed the spin-off, as well as capital reduction proposals, which are to be submitted to a special shareholders’ meeting on Feb. 2. The spin-off and capital reduction are to take effect on March 6, ASE said in a statement.
TRADE
Exports tipped to grow
Exports are expected to grow 3.58 percent this year, following an annual increase of 2.75 percent last year, on the back of new production technology to secure more orders from foreign buyers, Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) chairman Francis Liang (梁國新) said on Wednesday. To boost Taiwanese goods’ global visibility, TAITRA plans to hold 144 promotional campaigns this year, 13 more than last year, he said.
CHIPMAKERS
Ichia surges on sales report
Ichia Technologies Inc (毅嘉科技) shares rose by the daily maximum yesterday after it reported record-high sales and earnings for last year, while Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co (元大投顧) said the firm’s trademark “PEDLIM” technology for flexible printed circuit (FPC) manufacturing could help it land significant new orders this year. Sales grew 201 percent from 2013 to NT$11.23 billion (US$353.3 million) last year, while net profit expanded 190 percent to NT$1.07 billion, or NT$3.21 per share, Ichia said. Its shares closed at NT$33.45 yesterday. “Auto electronics, wearable devices and mobile devices will continue to drive FPC industry growth,” Yuanta wrote in a note. “The company may face challenges in the first quarter, but with improved sales to come in the second quarter.”
CHIP DESIGNERS
Himax faces slowdown
Himax Technologies Inc (奇景光電) might see its revenue for this quarter decline by single-digit percentage points from last quarter due to a seasonal slowdown, but gross margin could be flat from last quarter thanks to a better product mix, Credit Suisse AG said yesterday. Himax, which designs chips used in flat-panel displays, on Wednesday posted its results for last quarter, with revenue at US$227.2 million, a gross margin of 24.7 percent and earnings per share of US$0.087 to US$0.092.
"We think first-quarter sales will decline 4 percent quarter-on-quarter, better than normal seasonality of a 5-10 percent quarter-on-quarter drop, given strong smartphone demand from its [South] Korean customers," Credit Suisse wrote.
OPTICS
New shares issued
Ability Optoelectronics Technology Inc (先進光電) on Wednesday said it had raised NT$360 million in fresh funds by issuing 15 million new shares. That will increase the firm’s registered capital to NT$1.14 billion. The company, whose business focuses on optical lenses for mobile phones, notebook computers, camcorders and surveillance devices, plans to use the proceeds to boost working capital and repay bank loans.
ADVANCED: Previously, Taiwanese chip companies were restricted from building overseas fabs with technology less than two generations behind domestic factories Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), a major chip supplier to Nvidia Corp, would no longer be restricted from investing in next-generation 2-nanometer chip production in the US, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. However, the ministry added that the world’s biggest contract chipmaker would not be making any reckless decisions, given the weight of its up to US$30 billion investment. To safeguard Taiwan’s chip technology advantages, the government has barred local chipmakers from making chips using more advanced technologies at their overseas factories, in China particularly. Chipmakers were previously only allowed to produce chips using less advanced technologies, specifically
BRAVE NEW WORLD: Nvidia believes that AI would fuel a new industrial revolution and would ‘do whatever we can’ to guide US AI policy, CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp cofounder and chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Tuesday said he is ready to meet US president-elect Donald Trump and offer his help to the incoming administration. “I’d be delighted to go see him and congratulate him, and do whatever we can to make this administration succeed,” Huang said in an interview with Bloomberg Television, adding that he has not been invited to visit Trump’s home base at Mar-a-Lago in Florida yet. As head of the world’s most valuable chipmaker, Huang has an opportunity to help steer the administration’s artificial intelligence (AI) policy at a moment of rapid change.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) quarterly sales topped estimates, reinforcing investor hopes that the torrid pace of artificial intelligence (AI) hardware spending would extend into this year. The go-to chipmaker for Nvidia Corp and Apple Inc reported a 39 percent rise in December-quarter revenue to NT$868.5 billion (US$26.35 billion), based on calculations from monthly disclosures. That compared with an average estimate of NT$854.7 billion. The strong showing from Taiwan’s largest company bolsters expectations that big tech companies from Alphabet Inc to Microsoft Corp would continue to build and upgrade datacenters at a rapid clip to propel AI development. Growth accelerated for
TARIFF SURGE: The strong performance could be attributed to the growing artificial intelligence device market and mass orders ahead of potential US tariffs, analysts said The combined revenue of companies listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange and the Taipei Exchange for the whole of last year totaled NT$44.66 trillion (US$1.35 trillion), up 12.8 percent year-on-year and hit a record high, data compiled by investment consulting firm CMoney showed on Saturday. The result came after listed firms reported a 23.92 percent annual increase in combined revenue for last month at NT$4.1 trillion, the second-highest for the month of December on record, and posted a 15.63 percent rise in combined revenue for the December quarter at NT$12.25 billion, the highest quarterly figure ever, the data showed. Analysts attributed the
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