AVIATION
Major carriers’ sales drop
The nation’s major airlines on Monday reported sales declines last month, but the figures also showed that the impact of flight disruptions due to the Middle East respiratory syndrome outbreak in South Korea was easing. China Airlines Ltd (中華航空) said that sales dropped 7.11 percent year-on-year and 1.8 percent month-on-month to NT$11.64 billion (US$371.86 million) last month, and that cumulative sales for the first six months of the year totaled NT$72.78 billion, up 0.71 percent compared with the same period last year. EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) reported sales of NT$11.01 billion last month, down 0.8 percent from the previous month and 3.33 percent from a year earlier. Its first-half sales grew 5.98 percent to NT$62.33 billion from the previous year. TransAsia Airways Corp (復興航空), weighed down by accidents over the past year, saw sales last month drop 39.8 percent year-on-year and 6.1 percent month-on-month to NT$730 million. Its revenue for the first six months fell 20.3 percent annually to NT$5.17 billion.
EQUITIES
Stock trading halts planned
The government is to introduce a mechanism next year that will allow halts in the trading of stocks on the main bourse and the over-the-counter market, the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) said on Monday. According to the exchange, whenever a listed company is set to announce material information that could influence its share price, it can apply to the TWSE for approval of a temporary halt in trading. The new mechanism, which follows foreign exchanges such as Singapore, Hong Kong and the NASDAQ, is to take effect on Jan. 15.
WEALTH
Taiwan moves up rich list
Taiwan was the 17th-richest nation among 184 countries and territories from 2009 to 2013, according to an analysis by Global Finance Magazine based on per capita income adjusted for purchasing power. Taiwan’s ranking in 2013 was much improved from its 25th position in 2009. According to the ranking released by the magazine on Monday, Qatar was the richest nation in the world, ahead of Luxembourg, Singapore, Norway and Brunei, in that order. Japan ranked 22nd and South Korea was 26th, while China was 90th, according to the magazine.
STOCK EXCHANGE
Listed firms’ revenue falls
Listed companies’ total consolidated revenue fell 1.88 percent year-on-year to NT$2.3 trillion last month, according to a statement by the Taiwan Stock Exchange Corp (TWSE) yesterday. The decline in last month’s sales was attributed to weakening performance of the construction, steel, and oil and gas industries. However, in the first half of the year, listed companies’ total sales were NT$13.47 trillion, up 1.65 percent year-on-year, which the TWSE attributed to growth in the electronics components distribution, tourism and automobile industries.
INVESTMENT
Hon Hai, Czech PM eye pact
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) is reportedly to sign a memorandum on cooperation with the Czech Republic later this month related to an investment in a research and design center in that nation, Reuters reported on Monday. The report said Hon Hai chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘) is to meet Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka on Tuesday next week to sign the agreement.
SEMICONDUCTORS: The German laser and plasma generator company will expand its local services as its specialized offerings support Taiwan’s semiconductor industries Trumpf SE + Co KG, a global leader in supplying laser technology and plasma generators used in chip production, is expanding its investments in Taiwan in an effort to deeply integrate into the global semiconductor supply chain in the pursuit of growth. The company, headquartered in Ditzingen, Germany, has invested significantly in a newly inaugurated regional technical center for plasma generators in Taoyuan, its latest expansion in Taiwan after being engaged in various industries for more than 25 years. The center, the first of its kind Trumpf built outside Germany, aims to serve customers from Taiwan, Japan, Southeast Asia and South Korea,
Gasoline and diesel prices at domestic fuel stations are to fall NT$0.2 per liter this week, down for a second consecutive week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) announced yesterday. Effective today, gasoline prices at CPC and Formosa stations are to drop to NT$26.4, NT$27.9 and NT$29.9 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, the companies said in separate statements. The price of premium diesel is to fall to NT$24.8 per liter at CPC stations and NT$24.6 at Formosa pumps, they said. The price adjustments came even as international crude oil prices rose last week, as traders
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which supplies advanced chips to Nvidia Corp and Apple Inc, yesterday reported NT$1.046 trillion (US$33.1 billion) in revenue for last quarter, driven by constantly strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) chips, falling in the upper end of its forecast. Based on TSMC’s financial guidance, revenue would expand about 22 percent sequentially to the range from US$32.2 billion to US$33.4 billion during the final quarter of 2024, it told investors in October last year. Last year in total, revenue jumped 31.61 percent to NT$3.81 trillion, compared with NT$2.89 trillion generated in the year before, according to
SIZE MATTERS: TSMC started phasing out 8-inch wafer production last year, while Samsung is more aggressively retiring 8-inch capacity, TrendForce said Chipmakers are expected to raise prices of 8-inch wafers by up to 20 percent this year on concern over supply constraints as major contract chipmakers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and Samsung Electronics Co gradually retire less advanced wafer capacity, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. It is the first significant across-the-board price hike since a global semiconductor correction in 2023, the Taipei-based market researcher said in a report. Global 8-inch wafer capacity slid 0.3 percent year-on-year last year, although 8-inch wafer prices still hovered at relatively stable levels throughout the year, TrendForce said. The downward trend is expected to continue this year,
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