PANELS
Monitor shipments tumble
Taiwan’s PC monitor shipments dropped 7 percent to 1.32 million units last year from a year earlier, eroded by the declining demand for desktop computers and increased adoption of mobile devices, International Data Corp (IDC) said yesterday. In addition, the weak demand for consumer electronics products weighed on PC monitor shipments from Taiwan last year, IDC said. The market researcher said Taiwan would see another 8 percent annual decline in PC monitor shipments this year as the aforementioned negative factors are expected to persist.
PLASTICS
FPC proposes payout
Formosa Plastics Corp (FPC, 台塑), the nation’s largest producer of polyvinyl chloride, yesterday said that the company’s board has proposed a cash dividend of NT$3.6 per share, the highest in four years. Based on last year’s earnings per share of NT$4.85, the company’s dividend payout ratio is about 74 percent. The cash dividend proposal for last year hit the highest level since 2011, when the company issued a NT$4 cash dividend. The payout proposal is subject to shareholders’ approval at a meeting scheduled for June 17. Based on yesterday’s closing share price of NT$79, Formosa Plastics’ dividend yield would be 4.55 percent.
TELECOMS
APT reports net loss
Asia Pacific Telecom Co (APT, 亞太電信) yesterday announced it would not be paying a dividend to shareholders, despite narrowing losses last year, according to a company filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange. The company reported a net loss of NT$1.6 billion (US$48.92 million) for last year, or net losses per share of NT$0.41, which represents an improvement from a net loss of NT$8.4 billion in 2014, or NT$2.35 in net losses per share. The company has pledged to turn around its business this year.
TEXTILES
Eclat approves dividends
Textile manufacturer Eclat Textile Co (儒鴻) yesterday said its board has approved the distribution of NT$2.82 billion, or NT$10.5 per share, in cash dividends based on last year’s earnings. The company has not reported its annual earnings result for last year, but its earnings per share in the first three quarters of last year was NT$11.41. The planned dividend suggests a dividend yield of 2.47 percent, based on its closing price of NT$425 yesterday.
COMPUTERS
Payout ratio hits 65.16%
Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) yesterday said it plans to distribute a cash dividend of NT$15 per share for last year. That translated into a payout ratio of 65.16 percent, based on last year’s earnings per share of NT$23.02, and was slightly higher than the payout ratio of 64.86 percent in 2014. The dividend yield would be 5.2 percent based on Asustek’s closing price of NT$288 yesterday.
RETAIL
Record dividend proposed
President Chain Store Corp (PCSC, 統一超商), the nation’s top convenience store operator, on Wednesday said the company’s board has proposed issuing a NT$7.2 cash dividend, the highest-ever in the company’s history, even though its net profit fell to NT$8.24 billion last year from NT$9.09 billion in 2014. The proposed cash dividend for last year is higher than NT$7 for 2014 and NT$6 in 2013. The cash dividend proposal still needs approval from shareholders at the company’s annual general meeting scheduled for June 15.
Three experts in the high technology industry have said that US President Donald Trump’s pledge to impose higher tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors is part of an effort to force Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to the negotiating table. In a speech to Republicans on Jan. 27, Trump said he intends to impose tariffs on Taiwan to bring chip production to the US. “The incentive is going to be they’re not going to want to pay a 25, 50 or even a 100 percent tax,” he said. Darson Chiu (邱達生), an economics professor at Taichung-based Tunghai University and director-general of
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) is reportedly making another pass at Nissan Motor Co, as the Japanese automaker's tie-up with Honda Motor Co falls apart. Nissan shares rose as much as 6 percent after Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported that Hon Hai chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) instructed former Nissan executive Jun Seki to connect with French carmaker Renault SA, which holds about 36 percent of Nissan’s stock. Hon Hai, the Taiwanese iPhone-maker also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), was exploring an investment or buyout of Nissan last year, but backed off in December after the Japanese carmaker penned a deal
WASHINGTON POLICY: Tariffs of 10 percent or more and other new costs are tipped to hit shipments of small parcels, cutting export growth by 1.3 percentage points The decision by US President Donald Trump to ban Chinese companies from using a US tariff loophole would hit tens of billions of dollars of trade and reduce China’s economic growth this year, according to new estimates by economists at Nomura Holdings Inc. According to Nomura’s estimates, last year companies such as Shein (希音) and PDD Holdings Inc’s (拼多多控股) Temu shipped US$46 billion of small parcels to the US to take advantage of the rule that allows items with a declared value under US$800 to enter the US tariff-free. Tariffs of 10 percent or more and other new costs would slash such
SENSOR BUSINESS: The Taiwanese company said that a public tender offer would begin on May 7 through its wholly owned subsidiary Yageo Electronics Japan Yageo Corp (國巨), one of the world’s top three suppliers of passive components, yesterday said it is to launch a tender offer to fully acquire Japan’s Shibaura Electronics Co for up to ¥65.57 billion (US$429.37 million), with an aim to expand its sensor business. The tender offer would be a crucial step for the company to expand its sensor business, Yageo said. Shibaura Electronics is the world’s largest supplier of thermistors, with a market share of 13 percent, research conducted in 2022 by the Japanese firm showed. If a deal goes ahead, it would be the second acquisition of a sensor business since