STOCK MARKET
Yearly revenue falls
Listed companies’ total consolidated revenue fell by 4.23 percent year-on-year to NT$2.184 trillion (US$66.77 billion) last month, according to a statement by the Taiwan Stock Exchange Corp 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 eight months of the year, listed companies’ total sales were NT$17.88 trillion, up by 0.14 percent year-on-year.
TEXTILES
Makalot income skyrockets
Makalot Industrial Co (聚陽) yesterday said pre-tax income for the first eight months of the year rose by 30.21 percent year-on-year to NT$1.79 billion, or NT$9.04 per share, the highest in the company’s history. Consolidated sales rose by 14.02 percent from a year earlier to NT$15.11 billion in the eight-month period. Analysts said the company’s pre-tax profit grew faster than its sales in the period, pointing to the increasing contribution from functional sportswear and rush orders.
MEDIA
Eastern Media shares surge
Shares of Eastern Media International Corp (東森國際) yesterday surged by 9.87 percent, outranking the broader market’s 0.45 percent increase, amid speculation that the Carlyle Group LP is preparing to sell its stakes in Eastern Broadcasting Co (東森電視) for NT$30.5 billion. Eastern Media, which owns an about 21.32 percent stake of Eastern Broadcasting, last month confirmed it was selling its stake along with Carlyle. Eastern Media yesterday said that the company has no information about potential buyers nor the price offering.
AUTOMAKERS
Regulators fine joint venture
A Nissan joint venture has been fined 123 million yuan (US$19.3 million) by Chinese regulators on price-fixing charges in a long-running probe of the auto industry that has snared global automakers. Dongfeng Nissan Auto Sales Co (東風日產汽車銷售) violated China’s anti- monopoly law by improperly enforcing minimum prices, according to Guandong Province’s economic planning agency. The company is a joint venture between Nissan Motor Co and Dongfeng Motor Co (東風汽車), one of China’s biggest automakers.
TRADE
Cabinet passes trade rules
The Executive Yuan on Thursday approved a set of regulations to expedite the nation’s trade liberalization, Minister of Economic Affairs John Deng (鄧振中) said. Under the regulations, enterprises and workers hurt by market liberalizations due to the potential legislative approval of trade-in-services and trade-in-goods agreements can apply for government assistance, Deng said, adding that the government is to set up a NT$100 billion development fund to provide financial subsidies to those affected. The regulations and rules are to be submitted to the Legislative Yuan for review, Deng said.
ELECTRONICS
Huawei to improve tablets
Huawei Technologies Co (華為) is not planning to launch bigger tablets such as Apple Inc’s new iPad Pro, which comes with a 12.9-inch screen. Instead, the Chinese telecom equipment maker is to focus on 10-inch tablets with improved screen quality and smaller models of 7 to 8 inches with better portability, Vincent Hsu (許崇德), device business vice president of sales at Xunwei Technologies Co (訊威), Huawei’s exclusive sales agent in Taiwan, said on Thursday.
The Eurovision Song Contest has seen a surge in punter interest at the bookmakers, becoming a major betting event, experts said ahead of last night’s giant glamfest in Basel. “Eurovision has quietly become one of the biggest betting events of the year,” said Tomi Huttunen, senior manager of the Online Computer Finland (OCS) betting and casino platform. Betting sites have long been used to gauge which way voters might be leaning ahead of the world’s biggest televised live music event. However, bookmakers highlight a huge increase in engagement in recent years — and this year in particular. “We’ve already passed 2023’s total activity and
BIG BUCKS: Chairman Wei is expected to receive NT$34.12 million on a proposed NT$5 cash dividend plan, while the National Development Fund would get NT$8.27 billion Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday announced that its board of directors approved US$15.25 billion in capital appropriations for long-term expansion to meet growing demand. The funds are to be used for installing advanced technology and packaging capacity, expanding mature and specialty technology, and constructing fabs with facility systems, TSMC said in a statement. The board also approved a proposal to distribute a NT$5 cash dividend per share, based on first-quarter earnings per share of NT$13.94, it said. That surpasses the NT$4.50 dividend for the fourth quarter of last year. TSMC has said that while it is eager
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) today announced that his company has selected "Beitou Shilin" in Taipei for its new Taiwan office, called Nvidia Constellation, putting an end to months of speculation. Industry sources have said that the tech giant has been eyeing the Beitou Shilin Science Park as the site of its new overseas headquarters, and speculated that the new headquarters would be built on two plots of land designated as "T17" and "T18," which span 3.89 hectares in the park. "I think it's time for us to reveal one of the largest products we've ever built," Huang said near the
China yesterday announced anti-dumping duties as high as 74.9 percent on imports of polyoxymethylene (POM) copolymers, a type of engineering plastic, from Taiwan, the US, the EU and Japan. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce’s findings conclude a probe launched in May last year, shortly after the US sharply increased tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, computer chips and other imports. POM copolymers can partially replace metals such as copper and zinc, and have various applications, including in auto parts, electronics and medical equipment, the Chinese ministry has said. In January, it said initial investigations had determined that dumping was taking place, and implemented preliminary
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