TransAsia Airways Corp (復興航空) shares yesterday shed the daily maximum in Taipei trading — with further short-term effects on company business and stock price expected — after one of its aircraft crashed into the Keelung River in the capital earlier in the day.
TransAsia shares stayed flat in the early session, but lost value later, as news of the late morning crash of TransAsia Airways Flight GE235 affected investors’ confidence.
It was the second fatal incident involving the carrier in less than eight months, and is expected to harm its business and stock price more than the crash on Penghu on Aug. 23 last year, analysts said.
“Through the media’s reporting and the videos and photographs taken by eyewitnesses, the harm to TransAsia’s operations and reputation will be expanded,” a Capital Securities Corp (群益金鼎證券) official who refused to be named told reporters during a lunch gathering.
TransAsia chief executive Peter Chen (陳欣德), who led company officials in apologizing to the families of the passengers and the public yesterday afternoon, said the accident would not result in significant effects on the company, citing liability insurance to help cover losses and expected compensation to families.
Even though most compensation is set to be covered by aviation insurance, an expected rise in insurance fees over the next few years might increase the carrier’s costs, with its peers expected to pay higher insurance fees as well, analysts said.
The airline’s shares closed at NT$12.15 yesterday, the lowest level for more than two months, Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) data showed.
Data offered by the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) showed that TransAsia, which focuses on regional passenger flights, has purchased full aviation insurance from eight local insurers, led by Cathay Century Insurance Co (國泰產險).
Cathay Century has established an emergency response team for the accident and launched procedures for addressing further claims.
Meanwhile, the French-made turboprop ATR 72-600 that crashed yesterday is of the same series as the aircraft in the Penghu incident last year, an ATR 72-500, raising the public’s concerns over the type.
Chen said the company would continue replacing its ATR 72-500 turboprops with ATR 72-600 aircraft.
TransAsia operates five ATR 72-600 aircraft, while aiming to raise the number to 10 by the end of this year, company records showed.
MULTIFACETED: A task force has analyzed possible scenarios and created responses to assist domestic industries in dealing with US tariffs, the economics minister said The Executive Yuan is tomorrow to announce countermeasures to US President Donald Trump’s planned reciprocal tariffs, although the details of the plan would not be made public until Monday next week, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. The Cabinet established an economic and trade task force in November last year to deal with US trade and tariff related issues, Kuo told reporters outside the legislature in Taipei. The task force has been analyzing and evaluating all kinds of scenarios to identify suitable responses and determine how best to assist domestic industries in managing the effects of Trump’s tariffs, he
TIGHT-LIPPED: UMC said it had no merger plans at the moment, after Nikkei Asia reported that the firm and GlobalFoundries were considering restarting merger talks United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 4 contract chipmaker, yesterday launched a new US$5 billion 12-inch chip factory in Singapore as part of its latest effort to diversify its manufacturing footprint amid growing geopolitical risks. The new factory, adjacent to UMC’s existing Singapore fab in the Pasir Res Wafer Fab Park, is scheduled to enter volume production next year, utilizing mature 22-nanometer and 28-nanometer process technologies, UMC said in a statement. The company plans to invest US$5 billion during the first phase of the new fab, which would have an installed capacity of 30,000 12-inch wafers per month, it said. The
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
RSS