FINANCE
Banks downplay default risk
A number of domestic banks contributing to a NT$7 billion (US$214.03 million) syndicated loan to scandal-ridden optical thin-film manufacturer Solar Applied Materials Technology Co (Solar, 光洋科) yesterday downplayed concerns about a default, citing adequate collateral. Chang Hwa Commercial Bank Ltd (彰化銀行) said that it has instructed the company to allocate additional collateral, including manufacturing plants and land. Domestic banks have extended a credit line of about NT$14 billion to the company. Trading of Solar shares on the Taipei Exchange is to be halted today, as the company was discovered to have falsified its financial statement, regulators said.
POLICY INITIATIVES
Duh touts ‘Productivity 4.0’
Outgoing Vice Premier Woody Duh (杜紫軍) yesterday urged the incoming government to continue promoting a productivity transformation and upgrade program, which he described as a “no regrets” policy. Duh said the government began its “Productivity 4.0” initiative last year after seeing a drop in exports and changes in the international economic environment. The policy was designed to “enhance the productivity and competitiveness of the services, manufacturing and agricultural sectors through the use of digital and intelligent processes and by applying cloud computing and big data analysis,” he said.
GAMING
XPEC revamps investments
Game developer XPEC Entertainment Inc (樂陞科技) yesterday said that it is revamping its investment allocations to improve profitability. The company booked a NT$53.6 million loss as it halted operations of Proficient Success, which operates Tiny Piece, a mobile gaming platform based in China. It also reported that a deal to acquire Chinese mobile app distributor Tongbu (同步網路) is 70 percent complete. In addition, the company said it is acquiring a 20 percent stake in Japanese game developer AltPlus Inc.
STOCKS
Taiwanese shares edge up
Taiwanese shares edged higher yesterday, despite cautious sentiment that led to the fifth-lowest single-day turnover of the year on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, dealers said. The weighted index on the Taiwan Stock Exchange closed up by 13.91 points, or 0.17 percent, at 8.067.60, after moving between 8,003.93 and 8,091.48, on turnover of NT$62.49 billion. Dealers said some of the uncertainty came from weaknesses shown by US high-tech stocks and the continued withdrawal of funds by foreign institutional investors, who sold a net NT$4.46 billion worth of local shares yesterday.
BIOTECHNOLOGY
OBI Pharma stock surges
Shares of controversy-embroiled OBI Pharma Inc (台灣浩鼎) yesterday surged nearly 10 percent to NT$413 per share, following the company’s announcement last week that it plans to issue bonds to raise funds for a share repurchase. The company said that the repurchased shares would be transferred to employees to raise morale and to retain talent. Market watchers said that the company’s stance became more aggressive after its shares began to plummet from their height of more than NT$600 following unfavorable clinical trial results for its new breast cancer vaccine. It appears to be anticipating marked earnings growth, observers said.
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) is expected to share his views about the artificial intelligence (AI) industry’s prospects during his speech at the company’s 37th anniversary ceremony, as AI servers have become a new growth engine for the equipment manufacturing service provider. Lam’s speech is much anticipated, as Quanta has risen as one of the world’s major AI server suppliers. The company reported a 30 percent year-on-year growth in consolidated revenue to NT$1.41 trillion (US$43.35 billion) last year, thanks to fast-growing demand for servers, especially those with AI capabilities. The company told investors in November last year that
United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電) forecast that its wafer shipments this quarter would grow up to 7 percent sequentially and the factory utilization rate would rise to 75 percent, indicating that customers did not alter their ordering behavior due to the US President Donald Trump’s capricious US tariff policies. However, the uncertainty about US tariffs has weighed on the chipmaker’s business visibility for the second half of this year, UMC chief financial officer Liu Chi-tung (劉啟東) said at an online earnings conference yesterday. “Although the escalating trade tensions and global tariff policies have increased uncertainty in the semiconductor industry, we have not
Intel Corp has named Tasha Chuang (莊蓓瑜) to lead Intel Taiwan in a bid to reinforce relations between the company and its Taiwanese partners. The appointment of Chuang as general manager for Intel Taiwan takes effect on Thursday, the firm said in a statement yesterday. Chuang is to lead her team in Taiwan to pursue product development and sales growth in an effort to reinforce the company’s ties with its partners and clients, Intel said. Chuang was previously in charge of managing Intel’s ties with leading Taiwanese PC brand Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), which included helping Asustek strengthen its global businesses, the company
Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said it plans to ship its new 1 megawatt charging systems for electric trucks and buses in the first half of next year at the earliest. The new charging piles, which deliver up to 1 megawatt of charging power, are designed for heavy-duty electric vehicles, and support a maximum current of 1,500 amperes and output of 1,250 volts, Delta said in a news release. “If everything goes smoothly, we could begin shipping those new charging systems as early as in the first half of next year,” a company official said. The new
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