PANEL MAKERS
HannStar posts losses
Local LCD panel maker HannStar Display Corp (瀚宇彩晶) yesterday posted a quarterly loss of NT$1.35 billion (US$41.51 million) for last quarter, compared with a loss of NT$707 million in the previous quarter, as panel prices plunged about 20 percent sequentially. However, shipments rose 14 percent from 3.74 million units in the previous quarter to 4.26 million units last quarter. Gross margin deteriorated from minus-7 percent in the previous quarter to minus-14 percent last quarter. For last year as a whole, HannStar lost about NT$2.2 billion. Book value fell to NT$10.09 per share on Dec. 31 last year. The company’s board yesterday approved the plan to issue up to 700 million new common shares to introduce strategic partners and to repay debts.
BROKERAGES
SC approves Barclays exit
The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) yesterday gave its approval for Barclays PLC to dissolve its Taiwan-based brokerage subsidiary, Barclays Capital Securities Taiwan Ltd, as the brokerage scales down its business in Asia. Barclays said its final day of business would be on April 22. The commission said that as of the end of last year, the UK brokerage held 0.43 percent of the local market, ranked 13th among 17 foreign peers operating in Taiwan and has been laying off its 33 employees since January. The commission said that Barclays has not applied to pull its banking unit from Taiwan. It is to be the second time that the UK brokerage has entered and left Taiwan.
BANKING
HK ranked ‘most profitable’
Hong Kong was the most profitable market for Taiwanese banks’ overseas operations last year, with profits reaching NT$23.64 billion, according to information provided by the FSC yesterday. The US ranked second with profit of NT$8.73 billion, followed by Japan’s NT$6.67 billion. China ranked fourth with NT$4.63 billion and Singapore ranked fifth with NT$3.52 billion, data from the commission showed. Aggregate profit in the five markets last year rose 19 percent annually to NT$54.11 billion, led by 59 percent annual growth in Singapore. Meanwhile, aggregate profits from Chinese operations contracted 29 percent annually. Tokyo Star Bank Ltd, a Japanese unit of CTBC Financial Holding Co (中信金控), last year earned NT$5.2 billion, or 80 percent of total earnings by Taiwanese Japan-based bank branches.
STOCK MARKETS
TAIEX dips below 8,800
The TAIEX closed below the 8,800-point mark yesterday after a disappointing showing by Apple-concept shares in the local equity market. The TAIEX yesterday fell 0.31 percent to 8,785.68 on turnover of NT$86.24 billion. Apple Inc unveiled its new 4-inch iPhone SE and a smaller, cheaper iPad Pro tablet on Monday, which are seen as targeting a specific group of users and are not expected to greatly affect the market. Shares of suppliers to Apple — Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), Catcher Technology Co (可成), Innolux Corp (群創) and TPK Holding Co (宸鴻) — were mostly lower, showing that they did not benefit from the unveiling of the new products. Only Largan Precision Co (大立光), a smartphone camera lens supplier to Apple, closed up, at NT$2,600. The share price of smartphone maker HTC Corp (宏達電) sank by the maximum 10 percent to NT$101.5 after reports said that it was losing NT$1,200 for every device sold.
Zhang Yazhou was sitting in the passenger seat of her Tesla Model 3 when she said she heard her father’s panicked voice: The brakes do not work. Approaching a red light, her father swerved around two cars before plowing into a sport utility vehicle and a sedan, and crashing into a large concrete barrier. Stunned, Zhang gazed at the deflating airbag in front of her. She could never have imagined what was to come: Tesla Inc sued her for defamation for complaining publicly about the vehicles brakes — and won. A Chinese court ordered Zhang to pay more than US$23,000 in
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday held its first board of directors meeting in the US, at which it did not unveil any new US investments despite mounting tariff threats from US President Donald Trump. Trump has threatened to impose 100 percent tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, prompting market speculation that TSMC might consider boosting its chip capacity in the US or ramping up production of advanced chips such as those using a 2-nanometer technology process at its Arizona fabs ahead of schedule. Speculation also swirled that the chipmaker might consider building its own advanced packaging capacity in the US as part
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A move by US President Donald Trump to slap a 25 percent tariff on all steel imports is expected to place Taiwan-made steel, which already has a 25 percent tariff, on an equal footing, the Taiwan Steel & Iron Industries Association said yesterday. Speaking with CNA, association chairman Hwang Chien-chih (黃建智) said such an equal footing is expected to boost Taiwan’s competitive edge against other countries in the US market, describing the tariffs as "positive" for Taiwanese steel exporters. On Monday, Trump signed two executive orders imposing the new metal tariffs on imported steel and aluminum with no exceptions and exemptions, effective
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