INVESTMENT
Kunshan’s ranking falls
Kunshan in China’s Jiangsu Province, which had topped a local trade group’s survey for six previous years in the overall investment rankings among Taiwanese firms, fell out of the top spot in this year’s poll, according to an annual report released by the Taiwan Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers’ Association (TEEMA, 電電公會) yesterday. The TEEMA report showed that, in terms of investment attractiveness, Suzhou Industrial Park, Xiamen Island, Chengdu in Sichuan Province, Suzhou City and the Xiaoshan District of Hangzhou were the top five locations, in that order. Kunshan’s ranking dropped to No. 6 this year, amid stricter environmental protection measures in the city following the blast at Kunshan Zhongrong Metal Products Co Ltd (昆山中榮金屬) last year, the report said.
PHARMACEUTICALS
Adimmune sees share surge
Vaccine maker Adimmune Corp (國光生技) yesterday saw its shares surge 9.8 percent after the company began buying back its shares to ensure the interest of their shareholders. The company on Tuesday announced to buy back up to 5 million shares, or 2.1 percent of total shares in circulation, at NT$15 to NT$26 each. The buyback scheme, at total costs under NT$1.59 billion (US$48.52 million), began yesterday and would run through Oct. 25. Adimmune shares have tumbled 44.55 percent so far this year, and closed at NT$16.8 yesterday in Taipei trading. The company told investors last week that it is not concerned about growing competition from Medigen Biotechnology Corp (基亞生物科技).
COMPUTERS
Wistron eyes buy back plan
Contract notebook computer maker Wistron Corp (緯創) yesterday said its board approved a plan to buy back 80 million common shares, or 3.13 percent of outstanding shares, at between NT$12 and NT$23 per share on the open market. The company plans to spend up to NT$40.35 billion in the repurchase scheme, which starts today and runs until Oct. 26. Wistron said it will distribute those shares to employees after completing the repurchase as part of an incentive program. Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co (元大投顧) yesterday said the valuation of Wistron is approaching attractive levels and investors can bottom fish the stock at a time when the company faces favorable foreign exchange rates and potential orders for Windows 10-powered notebook computers. “We reiterate our view that selected PC/EMS names have seen meaningful corrections and their share prices could have seen the bottom,” Yuanta Securities analyst Vincent Chen (陳豐丰) wrote in a client note.
TELECOMS
Cloud collaboration
Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) yesterday said it had reached a strategic alliance agreement with Microsoft Corp, regarding their future collaboration in cloud solution provider (CSP) and cloud OS network (COSN) services. A company statement said the partnership with the US software company is aimed to better serve the cloud-computing needs of government and corporate clients in Taiwan through three approaches: Infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform as a service (PaaS) and Software as a service (SaaS). The two companies collaboration will take effect on Sept. 1, according to the statement. Yesterday’s agreement was signed in Taipei by Chunghwa and Microsoft representatives.
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
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