BANKING
Asia-Pacific poses risk
Sluggish economic growth in the Asia-Pacific region this year is a key risk for banks in the region, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services said yesterday. Moreover, high-impact stress from China could hurt many Asia-Pacific banking systems through their direct and indirect exposures, the ratings agency said in a report. “We expect credit losses of Asia-Pacific banks to rise as growth in major regional economies is likely to slow down,” S&P credit analyst Geeta Chugh said. “China’s slowing economy has also set the stage for increasing credit losses for these banks.” While Taiwanese and Hong Kong companies are feeling pain from their China linkages, Japan’s lagging economic recovery and its central bank’s protracted accommodative monetary stance are likely to add to the stress on Japanese banks’ net interest margins, the report said.
ACQUISITIONS
No McDonald’s buyer
Shihlin Electric & Engineering Corp (士林電機) and Ambassador Hotel (國賓大飯店) yesterday rejected media reports suggesting that their parent company, Yeangder Group (仰德集團), is poised to acquire McDonald’s Corp’s 350 branches in Taiwan. In separate filings to the Taiwan Stock Exchange, the two firms said they have not been in contact with the US fast-food giant. McDonald’s last year announced plans to sell a 90 percent stake in its local operation to potential franchisees as part of its global turnaround plan.
SEMICONDUCTORS
Sigurd to pay dividend
Chip testing and packaging services provider Sigurd Microelectronics Corp (矽格) yesterday said its board has approved a plan to distribute cash dividends of NT$1.6 per share for last year. That translates into a cash dividend yield of 6.7 percent based on yesterday’s closing share price of NT$23.6 and a cash payout ratio of 75.8 percent based on last year’s earnings per share of NT$2.11. Sigurd reported a net profit of NT$751.15 million (US$22.64 million) and revenue of NT$5.05 billion. The company is scheduled to hold its annual general meeting on May 27.
SEMICONDUCTORS
VPEC posts solid sales
Gallium arsenide (GaAs) wafer foundry Visual Photonics Epitaxy Co (VPEC, 全新光電) yesterday said that sales reached NT$188.23 million last month, down 15.08 percent from NT$221.68 million in January, but up 5.51 percent from NT$178.4 million in February last year. Revenue in the first two months of the year totaled NT$409.9 million, up 23.69 percent year on year. Capital Securities Co (群益證券) is positive on VPEC’s outlook this year, aided by orders from new and existing clients. Although demand might decelerate this quarter due to a seasonal slowdown, the quarterly decline in revenue is likely to be limited this quarter and growth momentum could resume next quarter, it said.
AIRLINES
Singapore targets Taiwan
Singapore Airlines Ltd yesterday said it aims to attract more passengers in Taiwan as it expand its fleet and destinations. The carrier is looking to capitalize on an order of 67 new A350-900 jets to provide better services to Taiwanese passengers, said Nelson Low (劉家福), general manager of its Taiwan office, adding that a new service between Singapore and Duesseldorf, Germany, is set to start on July 21. The carrier may also resume non-stop flight services from Singapore to Los Angeles and New York in 2018 after seven of its jets are upgraded to A350-900ULR aircraft, he said.
SEMICONDUCTORS: The German laser and plasma generator company will expand its local services as its specialized offerings support Taiwan’s semiconductor industries Trumpf SE + Co KG, a global leader in supplying laser technology and plasma generators used in chip production, is expanding its investments in Taiwan in an effort to deeply integrate into the global semiconductor supply chain in the pursuit of growth. The company, headquartered in Ditzingen, Germany, has invested significantly in a newly inaugurated regional technical center for plasma generators in Taoyuan, its latest expansion in Taiwan after being engaged in various industries for more than 25 years. The center, the first of its kind Trumpf built outside Germany, aims to serve customers from Taiwan, Japan, Southeast Asia and South Korea,
Gasoline and diesel prices at domestic fuel stations are to fall NT$0.2 per liter this week, down for a second consecutive week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) announced yesterday. Effective today, gasoline prices at CPC and Formosa stations are to drop to NT$26.4, NT$27.9 and NT$29.9 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, the companies said in separate statements. The price of premium diesel is to fall to NT$24.8 per liter at CPC stations and NT$24.6 at Formosa pumps, they said. The price adjustments came even as international crude oil prices rose last week, as traders
SIZE MATTERS: TSMC started phasing out 8-inch wafer production last year, while Samsung is more aggressively retiring 8-inch capacity, TrendForce said Chipmakers are expected to raise prices of 8-inch wafers by up to 20 percent this year on concern over supply constraints as major contract chipmakers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and Samsung Electronics Co gradually retire less advanced wafer capacity, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. It is the first significant across-the-board price hike since a global semiconductor correction in 2023, the Taipei-based market researcher said in a report. Global 8-inch wafer capacity slid 0.3 percent year-on-year last year, although 8-inch wafer prices still hovered at relatively stable levels throughout the year, TrendForce said. The downward trend is expected to continue this year,
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which supplies advanced chips to Nvidia Corp and Apple Inc, yesterday reported NT$1.046 trillion (US$33.1 billion) in revenue for last quarter, driven by constantly strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) chips, falling in the upper end of its forecast. Based on TSMC’s financial guidance, revenue would expand about 22 percent sequentially to the range from US$32.2 billion to US$33.4 billion during the final quarter of 2024, it told investors in October last year. Last year in total, revenue jumped 31.61 percent to NT$3.81 trillion, compared with NT$2.89 trillion generated in the year before, according to
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