Thu, Aug 25, 2016 page11

• Taiwan Business Quick Take

  • Staff writer
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  SEMICONDUCTORS

  FTC approves Hermes sale

  The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) yesterday approved Dutch semiconductor equipment maker ASML Holding NV’s acquisition of Hermes Microvision Inc (漢微科), saying the deal is unlikely to hurt competition. Hermes Microvision said it still expected the acquisition to be finalized by the end of the fourth quarter this year. Having received the nod from the commission, the deal now requires regulatory approval from the Investment Commission and authorities in the US, South Korea and Singapore.

  MACROECONOMICS

  M1B, M2 growth accelerates

  The monthly growth rates of monetary aggregates M1B and M2 last month rose 0.68 percent and 0.54 percent respectively, the central bank said in a statement yesterday. The annual growth rate of M1B, a narrow measure of the amount of money in circulation, last month rose 6.24 percent from the same period last year. The annual growth rate of the broader M2 monetary measurement — which includes M1B, time deposits, foreign currency deposits and mutual funds — increased to 4.7 percent, mainly because of net foreign capital inflows and faster growth in foreign currency deposits, the central bank said. For the first seven months of the year, the average annual growth rates of M1B and M2 were 6.32 percent and 4.79 percent respectively, it said.

  BANKING

  Mortgage rates hit new low

  The home mortgage rates of five major banks last month hit a new six-year low following four central bank interest rate cuts over the past year, according to data released by the government on Tuesday. The average interest rate for new housing loans offered by the five major lenders — Bank of Taiwan (臺灣銀行), Land Bank of Taiwan (土地銀行), Taiwan Cooperative Bank (合作金庫銀行), Hua Nan Commercial Bank (華南銀行) and First Commercial Bank (第一銀行) — last month fell to 1.695 percent, the lowest since August 2010, despite an increase of NT$1.28 billion (US$40.3 million) in housing loans from June, data showed.

  SEMICONDUCTORS

  Book-to-bill rises to 1.05%

  The book-to-bill ratio for North America-based semiconductor equipment manufacturers increased from 1 in June to 1.05 last month, statistics released yesterday by Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International showed. A ratio of 1.05 means that US$105 worth of orders were received for every US$100 of products billed in the month. It was the eighth consecutive month that the ratio stood at or above 1 percent, which implies a more optimistic outlook. “Monthly bookings and billings have reached US$1.7 billion on average over the past three months,” SEMI Taiwan president Terry Tsao (曹世綸) said in a statement. “The recent data indicate that strong investments in 3D NAND and in China will continue in the short term.”

  MACROECONOMICS

  DBS still bullish on growth

  DBS Group Holdings Ltd yesterday said that weaker-than-expected economic data last month, such as export orders and industrial production, did not alter its view that Taiwan’s economy is growing, as seasonally adjusted monthly figures still indicated increases for both orders and production, while the manufacturing purchasing managers’ index is in expansionary territory. However, the momentum of growth recovery is undeniably weak and signs of recovery in the electronics sector are not very apparent, DBS said in a report. GDP is expected to grow 0.9 percent this year and 1.8 percent next year, it said.
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