BANKING
Yuan activity on the rise
Yuan deposits at Taiwanese banks rose 0.48 percent last month to 318.23 billion yuan (US$48.35 billion), after falling for five consecutive months as local investors increased holdings, the latest data released by the central bank showed yesterday. Yuan deposits edged up 0.04 percent to 271.28 billion yuan at domestic banking units and grew 3.12 percent to 46.95 billion yuan at offshore banking units, the data showed. Remittances hit 345.15 billion yuan last month, up 64.19 percent from 210.22 billion yuan in November, as yuan activity tends to be stronger at the end of the year, the central bank said.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Canadian double tax cut
Taiwan and Canada have signed an agreement to prevent the taxation of the same income twice in the two nations, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. The signing was completed earlier in the day and is likely to take effect on Jan. 1 next year, after the two sides complete the necessary domestic procedures, the ministry said in a statement. The ministry hoped the agreement would help create a friendlier environment for bilateral investment, especially considering the potential for further cooperation in the technology, healthcare, clean energy, sustainable development and services sectors. Canada is Taiwan’s 24th-largest trade partner and 17th-largest export market, while Taiwan is Canada’s 12th-largest trade partner, the ministry said.
BANKING
King’s Town buy-back ends
King’s Town Bank (京城銀行) yesterday said it had completed its latest round of a share buyback scheme, as the Tainan-based medium-sized bank repurchased 12 million common shares on the open market at NT$22.87 per share on average since Dec. 1 last year. The lender’s shares closed down 2.18 percent at NT$20.2 yesterday in Taipei trading. King’s Town Bank reported net profit of NT$3.68 billion for last year, with earnings per share of NT$3.09.
AUTOMAKERS
Flat yearly growth forecast
Teco Electric and Machinery Co (東元電機), the nation’s largest maker of industrial motors, yesterday said the economy might show “flat growth” this year. “We are not too pessimistic about the economy this year, but we cannot be optimistic either,” Teco chairman Theodore Huang (黃茂雄) told reporters ahead a product launch in Taipei, citing the impacts of an economic recovery in the US, a slowdown in China and uncertainty for Europe. Huang did not provide his economic growth forecast this year. Nomura Holdings Inc this week cut its forecast for Taiwan’s GDP growth to 1.5 percent this year, from its previous estimate of 2.4 percent, leaving Taiwan with one of the region’s weakest growth rates.
OBITUARY
Humble House founder dies
My Humble House Group (寒舍集團) founder Tsai Chen-yang (蔡辰洋), 66, died of a heart attack early yesterday, his family said. The son of Tsai Wan-tsun (蔡萬春), the late founder of the family business group, Tsai Chen-yang founded My Humble House Hospitality Management Consulting Co (寒舍餐旅管理顧問) that operates Le Meridien Taipei, Sheraton Grand Taipei Hotel, Humble House Taipei and A ROY DEE by Sukhothai and Raku Kitchen restaurants. Tsai Chen-yang was a member of the second generation of one of the nation’s wealthiest families, which run several businesses, including Cathay Financial Group (國泰集團).
BUSINESS UPDATE: The iPhone assembler said operations outlook is expected to show quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year growth for the second quarter Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday reported strong growth in sales last month, potentially raising expectations for iPhone sales while artificial intelligence (AI)-related business booms. The company, which assembles the majority of Apple Inc’s smartphones, reported a 19.03 percent rise in monthly sales to NT$510.9 billion (US$15.78 billion), from NT$429.22 billion in the same period last year. On a monthly basis, sales rose 14.16 percent, it said. The company in a statement said that last month’s revenue was a record-breaking April performance. Hon Hai, known also as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), assembles most iPhones, but the company is diversifying its business to
Apple Inc has been developing a homegrown chip to run artificial intelligence (AI) tools in data centers, although it is unclear if the semiconductor would ever be deployed, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. The effort would build on Apple’s previous efforts to make in-house chips, which run in its iPhones, Macs and other devices, according to the Journal, which cited unidentified people familiar with the matter. The server project is code-named ACDC (Apple Chips in Data Center) within the company, aiming to utilize Apple’s expertise in chip design for the company’s server infrastructure, the newspaper said. While this initiative has been
GlobalWafers Co (環球晶圓), the world’s No. 3 silicon wafer supplier, yesterday said that revenue would rise moderately in the second half of this year, driven primarily by robust demand for advanced wafers used in high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, a key component of artificial intelligence (AI) technology. “The first quarter is the lowest point of this cycle. The second half will be better than the first for the whole semiconductor industry and for GlobalWafers,” chairwoman Doris Hsu (徐秀蘭) said during an online investors’ conference. “HBM would definitely be the key growth driver in the second half,” Hsu said. “That is our big hope
The consumer price index (CPI) last month eased to 1.95 percent, below the central bank’s 2 percent target, as food and entertainment cost increases decelerated, helped by stable egg prices, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. The slowdown bucked predictions by policymakers and academics that inflationary pressures would build up following double-digit electricity rate hikes on April 1. “The latest CPI data came after the cost of eating out and rent grew moderately amid mixed international raw material prices,” DGBAS official Tsao Chih-hung (曹志弘) told a news conference in Taipei. The central bank in March raised interest rates by