STOCK MARKET
Companies’ revenues dip
The combined revenues of Taiwan’s listed companies totaled NT$28.6 trillion (US$850.56 billion) last year, representing an annual decline of 0.76 percent, or NT$214.4 billion, from a year earlier, statistics released yesterday from the Taiwan Stock Exchange showed. A total of 346 listed companies saw their revenue grow from a year ago, while 479 faced a decline in revenue last year, the statistics showed. The Taiwan Stock Exchange said decreasing revenues in the nation’s stainless steel and petrochemical companies last year were mainly dragged down by the continued falling prices of basic metals and crude oil.
ENTERTAINMENT
Cayenne eyes Q1 profit
Cayenne Entertainment Technology Co (紅心辣椒) yesterday said that it expects to swing to profit this quarter on the back of the launches of new online games. The company has yet to release its earnings result for last year, but said it is to write-off impairment assets for last quarter. The company’s net losses totaled NT$238.25 million in the first three quarters of last year, which represents a loss per share of NT$8.61, compared with its net income of NT$37.34 million over the same period in the previous year. Cayenne said that after writing off all the impairment assets, the firm is expected to turn profitable this quarter.
ENTERTAINMENT
Wanin touts new HQ
Wanin International Co (網銀國際) yesterday said that its new headquarters in the Taichung Software Park (台中軟體園區) is expected to become operational and create 615 job opportunities by the end of next year. The online game software developer said that it has invested NT$1 billion in the new headquarters and expects the annual production value to reach NT$300 million when the construction is completed. The Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Export Processing Zone Administration said it expects more software companies to establish themselves in the Taichung Software Park following the entry of Wanin and to gradually form an industry cluster in the area.
TELECOMS
4G tourist card launched
Telecom operator Taiwan Star Telecom Co (台灣之星) has launched the nation’s first pre-paid 4G card for foreign tourists by charging users the same rates as its 3G services. Taiwan Star said that it expects subscriptions to surge 35 percent during the Lunar New Year holiday due to a nationwide increase in tourism. The pre-paid 4G card is expected to help the company take a 20 percent share of Taiwan’s total pre-paid card sales for foreign tourists this year, the company said in a statement released on Tuesday. The telecom company said that it plans to roll out pre-paid 4G cards for local consumers in the second quarter of this year.
Banking
E.Sun reports income boost
E.Sun Financial Holding Co (玉山金控) yesterday reported that its net income for last year increased 22.4 percent to NT$12.85 billion. Earnings per share was at NT$1.63. However, earnings last month dipped by nearly NT$700 million sequentially to NT$354.43 million, as the bank-focused group wrote off bad debts and non- performing loans to improve its asset quality. Meanwhile, E.Sun Commercial Bank (玉山銀行) announced that its branch in Shenzhen has received approval from Chinese regulators to become a subsidiary, marking a first among Taiwanese banks with operations in China.
China’s economic planning agency yesterday outlined details of measures aimed at boosting the economy, but refrained from major spending initiatives. The piecemeal nature of the plans announced yesterday appeared to disappoint investors who were hoping for bolder moves, and the Shanghai Composite Index gave up a 10 percent initial gain as markets reopened after a weeklong holiday to end 4.59 percent higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dived 9.41 percent. Chinese National Development and Reform Commission Chairman Zheng Shanjie (鄭珊潔) said the government would frontload 100 billion yuan (US$14.2 billion) in spending from the government’s budget for next year in addition
Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) suffered its biggest stock decline in more than a month after the company unveiled new artificial intelligence (AI) chips, but did not provide hoped-for information on customers or financial performance. The stock slid 4 percent to US$164.18 on Thursday, the biggest single-day drop since Sept. 3. Shares of the company remain up 11 percent this year. AMD has emerged as the biggest contender to Nvidia Corp in the lucrative market of AI processors. The company’s latest chips would exceed some capabilities of its rival, AMD chief executive officer Lisa Su (蘇姿丰) said at an event hosted by
AVIATION: Despite production issues in the US, the Taoyuan-based airline expects to receive 24 passenger planes on schedule, while one freight plane is delayed The ongoing strike at Boeing Co has had only a minor impact on China Airlines Ltd (CAL, 中華航空), although the delivery of a new cargo jet might be postponed, CAL chairman Hsieh Su-chien (謝世謙) said on Saturday. The 24 Boeing 787-9 passenger aircraft on order would be delivered on schedule from next year to 2028, while one 777F freight aircraft would be delayed, Hsieh told reporters at a company event. Boeing, which announced a decision on Friday to cut 17,000 jobs — about one-tenth of its workforce — is facing a strike by 33,000 US west coast workers that has halted production
TECH JUGGERNAUT: TSMC shares have more than doubled since ChatGPT’s launch in late 2022, as demand for cutting-edge artificial intelligence chips remains high Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday posted a better-than-expected 39 percent rise in quarterly revenue, assuaging concerns that artificial intelligence (AI) hardware spending is beginning to taper off. The main chipmaker for Nvidia Corp and Apple Inc reported third-quarter sales of NT$759.69 billion (US$23.6 billion), compared with the average analyst projection of NT$748 billion. For last month alone, TSMC reported revenue jumped 39.6 percent year-on-year to NT$251.87 billion. Taiwan’s largest company is to disclose its full third-quarter earnings on Thursday next week and update its outlook. Hsinchu-based TSMC produces the cutting-edge chips needed to train AI. The company now makes more
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