PROPERTY
TFCC to open books
Taipei Financial Center Corp (TFCC, 台北金融大樓), which operates Taipei 101, yesterday said its board of directors has agreed to Blackstone Group LP’s examining its books ahead of a potential share purchase by the US private equity firm. The decision paves the way for Blackstone to make an offer of up to US$700 million for a 37.17 percent stake currently held by Ting Hsin International Group (頂新國際集團), the conglomerate that was embroiled in tainted food scandals last year. Blackstone has assured the government that it will not use Chinese-backed money to fund what would be its first investment in Taiwan.
ELECTRONICS
LCD TV shipments shrink
Global shipments of LCD TVs this quarter are forecast to reach 62.2 million units, according to the latest report from WitsView, a research division at Taipei-based market information advisory firm TrendForce Corp (集邦科技). The figure translates to quarterly growth of 17.1 percent, but an annual decrease of 7.5 percent. WitsView’s outlook for the LCD TV market this year is on the conservative side, as it has revised its shipments downward from 220 million units to 216 million. This year’s shipments represent a contraction of 0.1 percent from last year, a second annual decline, WitsView said yesterday.
ELECTRONICS
Flexium beats forecasts
Flexible printed circuit board supplier Flexium Interconnect Inc (台郡) yesterday reported third-quarter sales and earnings that beat analysts’ estimates, helped by better-than-expected sales of Apple Inc’s iPhone 6S. Revenue jumped 45 percent from a year earlier to NT$4.57 billion (US$139.8 million) last quarter, the highest third-quarter figure in its history, the company said. Net income also hit a record of NT$899 million, with earnings per share of NT$3.34. The company expects sales and factory utilization rate to continue moving higher this quarter. Flexium’s stock yesterday gained 2.9 percent to close at NT$99.3 in Taipei trading. Its shares have increased 36.11 percent this year, and trade at 10.33 times estimated earnings, according to Taiwan Stock Exchange data.
MACROECONOMY
GDP to shrink: Moody’s
Moody’s Analytics, a division of Moody’s Corp, yesterday projected Taiwan’s GDP would shrink by 0.6 percent year-on-year for the third quarter of this year, driven by falling exports and soft domestic demand. In addition to the slowing growth in China, destruction caused by typhoons was also another key factor behind the GDP weakness last quarter, Moody’s said in a statement. It said it forecast the economy would expand just 2 percent this year from last year, compared with last year’s 3.8 percent growth. The government is due to release third-quarter results and update its full-year GDP numbers tomorrow.
FINANCE
Yuanta bond plan approved
Yuanta Financial Holding Co (元大金控) yesterday said its board has approved a plan to issue up to NT$20 billion in unsecured corporate bonds, with the funds to be used for future mergers and acquisition activities. It did not give details of the bond issuance. Yuanta Financial in August announced a plan to acquire 100 percent of Ta Chong Bank (大眾銀行) for NT$56.55 billion. In the first nine months of the year, the company posted a cumulative net profit of NT$10.42 billion.
TECH TITANS: Amazon’s latest chip joins Google in competing for the 90 percent market share held by Nvidia, which claims it is ‘a generation ahead of the industry’ Amazon Web Services (AWS) on Tuesday launched its in-house-built Trainium3 artificial intelligence (AI) chip, marking a significant push to compete with Nvidia Corp in the lucrative market for AI computing power. The move intensifies competition in the AI chip market, where Nvidia dominates with an estimated 80 to 90 percent market share for products used in training large language models that power the likes of ChatGPT. Google last week caused tremors in the industry when it was reported that Facebook-parent Meta Platforms Inc would employ Google AI chips in data centers, signaling new competition for Nvidia. This followed the release last month of
INSULATED: The company said it is less exposed to global complications, as it has built a strong footprint worldwide, and has multiple sources of rare earths and raw minerals Merck Group yesterday said it would ramp up production next year at its new flagship facility in Kaohsiung’s Lujhu District (路竹) to satisfy growing demand for advanced semiconductor materials and specialty gases, and to address supply resilience issues amid mounting geopolitical risks. Merck made the remarks during a news conference before the inauguration of its 500 million euros (US$582.1 million) facility, which is also to supply other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, it said. Merck executive board deputy chair and electronics CEO Kai Beckmann told reporters the company adopted a “local-for-local” strategy about seven years ago to address the cycle time of
Two companies wholly owned by the daughter of the founder of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) on Monday reported to the Taiwan Stock Exchange that they would dispose of all of the Hon Hai shares they hold. In filings with the exchange, Hong Wei Investment Co (鋐維) said it would sell the 2.771 million Hon Hai shares it holds and Frontier Investment Corp (承鋒投資) said it would sell its 2.409 million Hon Hai shares from tomorrow until Jan. 3 next year. The two companies are wholly owned and chaired by Shirley Gou (郭曉玲), the eldest daughter of Hon Hai founder Terry
RIDING THE WAVE: The race to build AI infrastructure has lifted the valuations of top memory makers, such as Micron, amid dwindling inventories and supply challenges Micron Technology Inc is to spend ￥1.5 trillion (US$9.6 billion) to build a plant in western Japan to make memory chips for artificial intelligence (AI) applications, the Nikkei reported on Saturday. The move comes as Micron seeks to diversify advanced chip production outside of Taiwan, the Nikkei article said, citing people familiar with the matter. The new factory will manufacture high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, a key component for working with AI processors such as those made by Nvidia Corp, the report said. Micron would build the facility within the compound of its Hiroshima plant, starting in May next year, with plans to launch
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