CEMENT MAKERS
Chia Hsin boosts dividend
Chia Hsin Cement Corp (CHC, 嘉新水泥) yesterday increased the payout of its cash dividend to NT$0.1 per common share, based on last year’s earnings of NT$0.34 per share, on the back of the improving cement demand in the Chinese market. The company had previously decided not to distribute a cash dividend this year due to a gloomy Chinese economy, CHC said. The revised cash dividend distribution represents a payout ratio of 29.41 percent and a yield of 1.21 percent, based on the company’s closing price of NT$8.26 in Taipei trading yesterday.
RETAIL
Convenience stores booming
The combined revenues of Taiwan’s convenience stores are expected to reach a record high of more than NT$300 billion (US$9.22 million) this year, up 1.69 percent annually from last year’s NT$295 billion, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. In the first five months of this year, the combined revenues of the nation’s convenience stores grew 5.2 percent to NT$125.9 billion compared with the same period last year, ministry data showed. The number of convenience stores nationwide rose by 12 to a total of 10,999 as of May, the data showed. The ministry said the increase in the combined revenues were mainly driven by expanding seating areas in stores and the introduction of a wider range of meals selections.
ENTERTAINMENT
Brogent expects pickup
Visual effects production company Brogent Technologies Inc (智崴科技) yesterday said it expects its business performance in the second half of this year to outpace the first half, as it is to book revenue contribution from Brogent’s i-Ride panoramic flying attractions, due for completion next year. The company told an investors’ conference that there would be a total of five i-Ride attractions built in Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and Abu Dhabi next year, with two in Germany to start to contribute revenues in the second half of this year. Brogent said it plans to recruit 60 engineers and research-and-development staff, raising its total number of employees to 300 before the end of this year to meet increasing orders from clients. Brogan’s accumulated revenues totaled NT$269.8 million in the first five months of this year, climbing 8 percent from NT$249.82 million over the same period last year, according to a company filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
MEDIA STREAMING
KKBOX launches TV service
KKBOX Group, Taiwan’s largest cloud-based music service provider, yesterday launched a KKTV television program streaming service to tap into the over-the-top (OTT) service industry. KKBOX, which has been providing music services in Taiwan for more than 11 years, said it is to cooperate with South Korea’s CJ E&M Corp to offer a total of 500 episodes from various South Korean TV dramas. The company said KKTV would also include TV programs from Taiwan, Japan and China.
TELECOMS
FET to provide Wi-Fi in China
Far EasTone Telecommunications Co Ltd (FET, 遠傳電信), the nation’s No. 3 telecom operator, yesterday said it is to provide Wi-Fi services in China in collaboration with China Mobile Ltd (中國移動). Subscribers do not need to change SIM cards to use the roaming service, which is priced at NT$199 per day. China Mobile operates 4 million Wi-Fi hotspots in China.
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.
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
AI BOOST: Next year, the cloud and networking product business is expected to remain a key revenue pillar for the company, Hon Hai chairman Young Liu said Manufacturing giant Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday posted its best third-quarter profit in the company’s history, backed by strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers. Net profit expanded 17 percent annually to NT$57.67 billion (US$1.86 billion) from NT$44.36 billion, the company said. On a quarterly basis, net profit soared 30 percent from NT$44.36 billion, it said. Hon Hai, which is Apple Inc’s primary iPhone assembler and makes servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s AI accelerators, said earnings per share expanded to NT$4.15 from NT$3.55 a year earlier and NT$3.19 in the second quarter. Gross margin improved to 6.35 percent,
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