MANUFACTURING
Yeong Guan forecasts growth
Yeong Guan Energy Technology Group Co (永冠能源), which produces advanced casting components for specialized applications, yesterday said shipments are expected to increase more than 10 percent to 150,000 tonnes this year. With global demand for wind power turbines stabilizing, Yeong Guan chairman Chang Hsien-ming (張賢銘) told shareholders that the company plans to expand capacity by 75 percent in five years. Shareholders approved the company’s plan to distribute a cash dividend of NT$6.36 per share. The company, whose products are used in the fields of energy, industrial machinery, injection molding and medical equipment, reported a net profit of NT$233 million (US$7.5 million) in the first quarter, or NT$2.22 per share.
compact discs
CMC Magnetics shares rise
CMC Magnetics Corp (中環), the country’s largest maker of recordable compact discs, yesterday said its net value per share is expected to reach NT$12.68, after reducing company capital by 17.18 percent. Shareholders yesterday approved the NT$4.44 billion capital reduction scheme to improve the company’s financial structure. Following the reduction, CMC said, its paid-in capital is NT$21.38 billion. The company last year reported a net loss of NT$1.73 billion, or NT$0.67 per share, on consolidated sales of NT$16.14 billion.
GREEN ENERGY
Giga Solar foresees growth
Giga Solar Materials Corp (碩禾) president Huang Wen-jui (黃文瑞) yesterday said business will improve quarter-by-quarter this year. The Hsinchu-based firm focuses on photovoltaic conductive pastes for solar cells, with front-side silver paste, rear-side silver paste and aluminum paste. It reported a net profit of NT$1.49 billion last year, or NT$24.54 per share. Huang said the company’s aluminum paste and rear-side silver paste shipments are leaders in the world market, while front-side silver paste shipments are likely to increase by 50 percent this year from 250 tonnes last year. Shareholders yesterday approved a cash dividend payment of NT$15 per share.
COMPUTERS
Capital upbeat on MiTAC
Contract server maker MiTAC Holdings Corp (神達控股) is expected to grow server revenue further this quarter following more orders from new clients, while the consumer segment will see recovery as traditional low season gradually comes to an end, Capital Securities Corp (群益證券) said yesterday in a note. MiTAC’s revenue is estimated to rise 42 percent year-on-year and 24 percent quarter-on-quarter to NT$16.67 billion this quarter, driven by bullish growth momentum in both core and non-operating businesses, Capital said. Net income for this quarter may soar 146 percent year-on-year and 78 percent quarter-on-quarter to NT$769 million, with earnings per share of NT$0.99, the brokerage said.
RETAILERS
7-Eleven eyes ice growth
President Chain Store Corp (統一超商) yesterday said it expects its sales of icy treats to reach NT$2.5 billion (US$80.64 million) this year, from NT$2.2 billion last year, driven by sales of soft ice cream. The operator of 7-Eleven stores said it is scheduled to launch an apple-flavored soft ice cream product from Monday next week, using apples from Japan’s Aomori Prefecture. The firm said fruit-flavored ice products are a popular choice during the summer and the company plans to launch more time-limited fruit-flavored soft ice cream products in the next two months. It said sales of its soft ice cream last year totaled about NT$1 billion. Sales of its ice products last year accounting for about 30 percent of the total market, it said.
INVESTOR RESILIENCE? An analyst said that despite near-term pressures, foreign investors tend to view NT dollar strength as a positive signal for valuation multiples Morgan Stanley has flagged a potential 10 percent revenue decline for Taiwan’s tech hardware sector this year, as a sharp appreciation of the New Taiwan dollar begins to dent the earnings power of major exporters. In what appears to be the first such warning from a major foreign brokerage, the US investment bank said the currency’s strength — fueled by foreign capital inflows and expectations of US interest rate cuts — is compressing profit margins for manufacturers with heavy exposure to US dollar-denominated revenues. The local currency has surged about 10 percent against the greenback over the past quarter and yesterday breached
MARKET FACTORS: Navitas Semiconductor Inc said that Powerchip is to take over from TSMC as its supplier of high-voltage gallium nitride chips Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday in a statement said that it would phase out its compound semiconductor gallium nitride (GaN) business over the next two years, citing market dynamics. The decision would not affect its financial targets announced previously, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker said. “We are working closely with our customers to ensure a smooth transition and remain committed to meeting their needs during this period,” it said. “Our focus continues to be on delivering sustained value to our partners and the market.” TSMC’s latest move came unexpectedly, as the chipmaker had said in its annual report that it has
Rick Cassidy, the chairman of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co's (TSMC, 台積電) US subsidiary, TSMC Arizona Corp, plans to retire, but the company has yet to name a successor. After Cassidy made his intention to retire known, TSMC Arizona held a special general meeting and approved a resolution that Cassidy would not continue as chairman and would not remain as a director, TSMC said in a statement filed with the Taiwan Stock Exchange last night. The meeting also approved a plan to appoint TSMC Arizona president Rose Castanares as a director, the company said, adding that Cassidy has been named as an advisor
SECURITY WARNING: The company possesses key 3-nanometer technology, and Taiwan should prevent it from being transferred to China, a lawmaker said The Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday said it would conduct a “strict review” of any proposed acquisition of Taiwanese tech company Source Photonics Co (索爾思光電), following media reports that a Chinese firm was planning to buy the company in the Hsinchu Science Park (新竹科學園區). Local media reported that Suzhou Dongshan Precision Manufacturing Co (東山精密), China’s largest printed circuit board manufacturer, had announced plans to acquire Source Photonics for 5.9 billion yuan (US$823.1 million). The ministry said it has not received an application from Source Photonics and has formally notified the company that any buyout would constitute a change in its ownership structure. The
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