MEDICAL DEVICES
AmCad debuts, rises 5.13%
AmCad BioMed Corp (安克生醫) shares yesterday rose 5.13 percent on its debut on the local over-the-counter market. Shares at one point climbed to NT$41.4 — an 8.95 percent rise from the listing price of NT$38 — in the morning session, with the stock closing at NT$39.95 yesterday on the Taipei Exchange (TPEx, 櫃檯買賣中心). AmCad, a subsidiary of Maywufa Bio-Pharmaceutical Group (美吾華集團), is a computer-aided design (CAD) software developer for high-end medical devices and has a paid-in capital of NT$408 million (US$13 million).
LEASING SERVICES
Chailease net income climbs
Chailease Holding Co (中租控股), the nation’s top leasing services provider, reported net income of NT$510 million last month, up 19 percent year-on-year, thanks to cost control and asset expansion, it said yesterday in a statement. On a monthly basis, net income declined 13 percent because of fewer working days, with cumulative earnings for the first two months of the year totaling NT$1.09 billion, or NT$0.99 per share. The firm last year posted net profit of NT$1.09 billion (US$34.73 million), or NT$0.99 per share, up 13 percent from a year earlier.
MACHINERY
Kao Fong to pay dividend
Kao Fong Machinery Co (高鋒), a leading designer and assembler of machining centers, yesterday said its board agreed to pay a NT$1.2 cash dividend to shareholders on record-high earnings of NT$169 million for last year, or NT$1.76 earnings per share. That represents a payout ratio of 68.18 percent. The plan is subject to shareholders’ approval at an annual general meeting on June 12. Kao Fong’s revenues totaled NT$2.095 billion last year, up 3.7 percent from 2013. With order visibility for the company’s products extending to May, analysts expect Kao Fong’s revenue for this year to rise above NT$25 billion.
SOLAR ENERGY
SAS to pay dividend
Solar wafer maker Sino-American Silicon Products Inc (SAS, 中美晶) yesterday said its board plans to distribute a cash dividend of NT$1.8 per share, after net income surged 282 percent year-on-year to NT$1.13 billion last year, or NT$2.06 per share. Yuanta Investment Consulting Co (元大投顧) yesterday said the company would report strong revenue growth this year from last year’s NT$27.82 billion with better profitability, citing SAS’ expansion plan and diversified product portfolio. The brokerage gave the stock a “buy” rating with a target price of NT$65. Shares closed 0.4 percent lower at NT$49.8 yesterday.
ELECTRONICS
Sharp news hits Hon Hai
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) shares fell 0.21 percent to NT$93.30 in Taipei trading yesterday, as investors digested news about its intention to participate in Sharp Corp management. In an interview published in the Japanese weekly Toyo Keizai on Friday last week, Hon Hai chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘) said his firm is ready to support Sharp financially, but the support is contingent on being able to join the Japanese company’s management. A plan in 2012 to buy a 9.9 percent stake in Sharp for ￥66.9 billion (US$560.6 million at current exchange rates) fell apart in 2013 after weak earnings reports sent Sharp shares into a tailspin alongside the Japanese company’s refusal of Gou’s request to have a say in the company’s management.
Napoleon Osorio is proud of being the first taxi driver to have accepted payment in bitcoin in the first country in the world to make the cryptocurrency legal tender: El Salvador. He credits Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele’s decision to bank on bitcoin three years ago with changing his life. “Before I was unemployed... And now I have my own business,” said the 39-year-old businessman, who uses an app to charge for rides in bitcoin and now runs his own car rental company. Three years ago the leader of the Central American nation took a huge gamble when he put bitcoin
TECH RACE: The Chinese firm showed off its new Mate XT hours after the latest iPhone launch, but its price tag and limited supply could be drawbacks China’s Huawei Technologies Co (華為) yesterday unveiled the world’s first tri-foldable phone, as it seeks to expand its lead in the world’s biggest smartphone market and steal the spotlight from Apple Inc hours after it debuted a new iPhone. The Chinese tech giant showed off its new Mate XT, which users can fold three ways like an accordion screen door, during a launch ceremony in Shenzhen. The Mate XT comes in red and black and has a 10.2-inch display screen. At 3.6mm thick, it is the world’s slimmest foldable smartphone, Huawei said. The company’s Web site showed that it has garnered more than
PARTNERSHIPS: TSMC said it has been working with multiple memorychip makers for more than two years to provide a full spectrum of solutions to address AI demand Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said it has been collaborating with multiple memorychip makers in high-bandwidth memory (HBM) used in artificial intelligence (AI) applications for more than two years, refuting South Korean media report's about an unprecedented partnership with Samsung Electronics Co. As Samsung is competing with TSMC for a bigger foundry business, any cooperation between the two technology heavyweights would catch the eyes of investors and experts in the semiconductor industry. “We have been working with memory partners, including Micron, Samsung Memory and SK Hynix, on HBM solutions for more than two years, aiming to advance 3D integrated circuit
Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp (世界先進) and Episil Technologies Inc (漢磊) yesterday announced plans to jointly build an 8-inch fab to produce silicon carbide (SiC) chips through an equity acquisition deal. SiC chips offer higher efficiency and lower energy loss than pure silicon chips, and they are able to operate at higher temperatures. They have become crucial to the development of electric vehicles, artificial intelligence data centers, green energy storage and industrial devices. Vanguard, a contract chipmaker focused on making power management chips and driver ICs for displays, is to acquire a 13 percent stake in Episil for NT$2.48 billion (US$77.1 million).
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