FOOTWEAR
Fulgent profit jumps 22%
Fulgent Sun Group (鈺齊國際), which manufactures outdoor shoes made of waterproof and breathable fabric like Gore-Tex, yesterday reported first-quarter net income of NT$170 million (US$5.22 million), up 22 percent from a year earlier, with earnings per share of NT$1.31. The company, which also supplies athletic footwear, said sales in the first quarter totaled NT$2.47 billion, down from NT$2.52 billion in the same period last year. Revenue from its China operation contributed 52 percent to its total sales, while revenue from Cambodia and Vietnam operations accounted for the remaining 48 percent. Fulgent said it is positive about its business outlook for this quarter.
INSURANCE
Embedded value rises
China Life Insurance Co (中國人壽) yesterday released its embedded value for last year, with the figure estimated to have grown 15.1 percent year-on-year to NT$183.6 billion, or NT$55 per share. The embedded value refers to the insurer’s present value of future profits at NT$102.3 billion plus adjusted net asset value of NT$81.3 billion, China Life said. The company also reported net profit of NT$3.64 billion for the first four months of this year, or earnings per share of NT$1.09.
EQUITIES
Listed firms’ profits down
Companies listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange reported declines in both profit and revenue for the first quarter, the Financial Supervisory Commission said yesterday, attributing the fall to industry headwinds and a relatively higher comparison base last year. Listed companies’ pre-tax profits totaled NT$347 billion in the first three months, down 21.05 percent from NT$439.5 billion a year earlier because of poor results in the semiconductor, optoelectronics and shipping sectors. Their January-to-March revenue decreased 5.69 percent year-on-year to NT$5.93 trillion, the commission said in a statement. As for companies trading on the Taipei Exchange, their pre-tax profits rose 13.87 percent year-on-year to NT$27.1 billion in the first three months, it said.
TECHNOLOGY
Lenovo misses forecasts
Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) yesterday reported profit for the three months ended March that missed analysts’ estimates as it struggled to revive the Motorola smartphone brand and the PC market continued to slide. Net income was US$180 million in the quarter, up from US$100 million a year earlier, Beijing-based Lenovo said in a filing. That compares with the US$184.9 million average of analyst projections compiled by Bloomberg. Sales dropped to US$9.13 billion in the quarter from US$11.3 billion a year earlier, the company said.
COMMUNICATIONS
Smart solutions launched
Acer Inc (宏碁) and Chunghwa Telecom Co (CHT, 中華電信) yesterday jointly launched smart office communication network solutions to tap into the domestic commercial market. Acer said its abPBX solutions, powered by CHT’s CS210 communication software, integrate Acer’s touch-screen desktop telephones with users’ mobile devices in a move to raise enterprise operational efficiency and cut communication costs. Acer said the solutions also provide enterprises a one-stop service, from planning to building, integrating and maintaining an office communication network system. The two companies also plan to expand their reach to the European and Southeast Asian markets in the next three years.
JITTERS: Nexperia has a 20 percent market share for chips powering simpler features such as window controls, and changing supply chains could take years European carmakers are looking into ways to scratch components made with parts from China, spooked by deepening geopolitical spats playing out through chipmaker Nexperia BV and Beijing’s export controls on rare earths. To protect operations from trade ructions, several automakers are pushing major suppliers to find permanent alternatives to Chinese semiconductors, people familiar with the matter said. The industry is considering broader changes to its supply chain to adapt to shifting geopolitics, Europe’s main suppliers lobby CLEPA head Matthias Zink said. “We had some indications already — questions like: ‘How can you supply me without this dependency on China?’” Zink, who also
At least US$50 million for the freedom of an Emirati sheikh: That is the king’s ransom paid two weeks ago to militants linked to al-Qaeda who are pushing to topple the Malian government and impose Islamic law. Alongside a crippling fuel blockade, the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) has made kidnapping wealthy foreigners for a ransom a pillar of its strategy of “economic jihad.” Its goal: Oust the junta, which has struggled to contain Mali’s decade-long insurgency since taking power following back-to-back coups in 2020 and 2021, by scaring away investors and paralyzing the west African country’s economy.
Tax revenue from securities transactions last month increased 41.9 percent from a year earlier to NT$30.3 billion (US$975.8 million), rising on an annual basis for the third consecutive month and marking the highest for the month of October as Taiwanese stocks continued to perform strongly, data released by the Ministry of Finance showed yesterday. Last month, the TAIEX surged 2,412.81 points, or 9.34 percent, marking its largest-ever monthly rise for October as market sentiment was buoyed by a nearly 15 percent gain in contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which accounts for more than 40 percent of the
BUST FEARS: While a KMT legislator asked if an AI bubble could affect Taiwan, the DGBAS minister said the sector appears on track to continue growing The local property market has cooled down moderately following a series of credit control measures designed to contain speculation, the central bank said yesterday, while remaining tight-lipped about potential rule relaxations. Lawmakers in a meeting of the legislature’s Finance Committee voiced concerns to central bank officials that the credit control measures have adversely affected the government’s tax income and small and medium-sized property developers, with limited positive effects. Housing prices have been climbing since 2016, even when the central bank imposed its first set of control measures in 2020, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lo Ting-wei (羅廷瑋) said. “Since the second half of
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