ECONOMY
Minister backs fund
Minister of Finance Chang Sheng-ford (張盛和) yesterday said he would suggest that the government allow the National Stabilization Fund to remain in the market into January next year, when the presidential elections are scheduled. Chang told the legislature’s Finance Committee that the presence of the state-run fund will help smooth any impact from external factors. The NT$500 billion (US$15.09 billion) fund was activated on Aug. 25 as local shares suffered heavy losses resulting from turmoil in global equity markets. The fund’s steering committee is to hold its regular meeting on Oct. 15 to review market performance during the period the fund has been active.
ELECTRONICS
Hon Hai seeks help: report
Apple Inc supplier Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) is planning to ask the iPhone maker to jointly invest funds to buy a stake in Sharp Corp’s LCD business, according to Japan’s Mainichi Shimbun. The newspaper said the Taiwanese suitor is expected to spend ￥200 billion (US$1.67 billion) to buy part of the LCD business, while mulling the possibility of having Apple as a partner in the buy out deal. Sharp is under rising pressure to find an investor for its flat-panel business after the Japanese company last week said its financial results in the current period would fall short of expectations. Hon Hai declined to comment on the report.
ENTERTAINMENT
XPEC gains shareholder nod
Game developer XPEC Entertainment Inc (樂陞科技) yesterday said shareholders approved a company plan to sell 28 million new common shares via private placement to raise NT$2 billion as part of the firm’s efforts to acquire China’s Xiamen ETombo Technology Ltd (廈門同步網路). XPEC Entertainment plans to collect another NT$3.3 billion via bond sales and bank loans to fund the NT$5.3 billion acquisition, aiming to expand its presence in the Chinese retail market. The deal was announced in October last year and gained regulatory approval from the Investment Commission in June.
STOCK MARKET
Deal prompts reshuffle
Taiwan Stock Exchange Corp on Tuesday announced that Taiwan Life Insurance Co (台壽保) on Friday will be removed from the FTSE TWSE Taiwan Mid-Cap 100 Index, as the company has been acquired by CTBC Financial Holding Co (中信金控), which is listed on the FTSE TWSE Taiwan 50 Index. The vacated spot on the Taiwan 100 index will be filled by Elite Material Co (台光電), one of the world’s leading printed circuit board suppliers, which specializing in copper clad laminate components and lamination production services. Elite Material Co fell 0.56 percent to NT$71.5 on Friday in Taipei trading.
TRADE
Talks miss exemption issue
Bureau of Foreign Trade Director-General Yang Jen-ni (楊珍妮) yesterday said the 11th round of formal negotiations over the cross-strait trade in goods agreement did not tackle the issue of the scope of Taiwan’s products to be exempted from Chinese tariffs or vice versa. Yang, who jointly led the team to Beijing, said the two sides did not go through every item of each industry during the meeting on Monday and Tuesday. Because Taipei and Beijing hope to complete the negotiations before the end of this year, they agreed to hold the next round of formal negotiation as soon as possible, Yang said.
Real estate agent and property developer JSL Construction & Development Co (愛山林) led the average compensation rankings among companies listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) last year, while contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) finished 14th. JSL Construction paid its employees total average compensation of NT$4.78 million (US$159,701), down 13.5 percent from a year earlier, but still ahead of the most profitable listed tech giants, including TSMC, TWSE data showed. Last year, the average compensation (which includes salary, overtime, bonuses and allowances) paid by TSMC rose 21.6 percent to reach about NT$3.33 million, lifting its ranking by 10 notches
Popular vape brands such as Geek Bar might get more expensive in the US — if you can find them at all. Shipments of vapes from China to the US ground to a near halt last month from a year ago, official data showed, hit by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs and a crackdown on unauthorized e-cigarettes in the world’s biggest market for smoking alternatives. That includes Geek Bar, a brand of flavored vapes that is not authorized to sell in the US, but which had been widely available due to porous import controls. One retailer, who asked not to be named, because
SEASONAL WEAKNESS: The combined revenue of the top 10 foundries fell 5.4%, but rush orders and China’s subsidies partially offset slowing demand Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) further solidified its dominance in the global wafer foundry business in the first quarter of this year, remaining far ahead of its closest rival, Samsung Electronics Co, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. TSMC posted US$25.52 billion in sales in the January-to-March period, down 5 percent from the previous quarter, but its market share rose from 67.1 percent the previous quarter to 67.6 percent, TrendForce said in a report. While smartphone-related wafer shipments declined in the first quarter due to seasonal factors, solid demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) devices and urgent TV-related orders
MINERAL DIPLOMACY: The Chinese commerce ministry said it approved applications for the export of rare earths in a move that could help ease US-China trade tensions Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰) is today to meet a US delegation for talks in the UK, Beijing announced on Saturday amid a fragile truce in the trade dispute between the two powers. He is to visit the UK from yesterday to Friday at the invitation of the British government, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. He and US representatives are to cochair the first meeting of the US-China economic and trade consultation mechanism, it said. US President Donald Trump on Friday announced that a new round of trade talks with China would start in London beginning today,
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