INTERNET
Momo’s net income down
Momo.com Inc (富邦媒), an Internet, television and catalogue shopping subsidiary of Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大), yesterday posted a weaker-than-expected net income of NT$252.63 million (US$7.98 million) for last quarter. The earnings result is down 2.51 percent from NT$259.16 million a year ago and down 14.89 percent from the previous quarter’s NT$296.85 million. Momo attributed the decline to softer-than-expected demand from shoppers. The company said it expects revenue to increase this quarter from a quarter ago, driven by the company’s anniversary sales, Singles’ Day promotion and demand for Christmas.
ELECTRONICS
Flexium income skyrockets
Flexible printed circuit board supplier Flexium Interconnect Inc (台郡) yesterday said its net income grew 602.9 percent to NT$724 million last quarter from the previous quarter on the back of the rising demand for Apple Inc’s iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus smartphones. However, the figure was down 19.5 percent from a year ago, the company said. Earnings per share were NT$2.71 last quarter, with sales of NT$5.72 billion, up 65.6 percent quarter-on-quarter. Due to higher utilization, gross margin and operating margin last quarter rose to 25.1 percent and 18.16 percent respectively, the company said. For this quarter, the company expects sales to be higher than last quarter, while profit margins would improve further on a better product mix.
ENTERTAINMENT
XPEC asked to restate report
The Financial Supervisory Commission yesterday said game developer XPEC Entertainment Inc (樂陞科技) must restate its financial report for the second quarter of the year, after the company confirmed it had not received full payment for the sale of Tiny Piece Co, a Chinese mobile-game developer, by June 30. Securities and Futures Bureau Director-General Wang Yung-hsin (王詠心) said at a meeting of the legislature’s Finance Committee that XPEC must restate its financial statement within 20 days and book investment write-off over the deal rather than investment gains, or risks punishment from the commission.
ECONOMY
GDP to grow 2 percent
The nation’s GDP is likely to see a 2 percent annual growth for last quarter, after the latest government data showed a better-than-expected industrial production for last month, DBS Bank said in a report on Tuesday. That would be the second consecutive quarter of growth in industrial production and marks a significant increase compared with the 0.7 percent increase in the previous quarter, DBS said. However, GDP growth is expected to remain below its potential last quarter, as weakness in local-oriented service providers are to offset the recovery in the externally-driven manufacturing sector, DBS said.
BICYCLES
Manufacturers cautioned
Taiwanese bicycle makers should be cautious about their business outlook, despite improving exports of bicycle parts in Japan, Credit Suisse Group AG said in a note to investors yesterday. The recovery of Japanese exports of bicycle parts is driven by an increasing need for high-end products, while the demand for low and mid-end bikes is still weak, Credit Suisse said. The nation’s largest bicycle maker, Giant Manufacturing Co Ltd (巨大機械), saw its sales drop 5.7 percent annually in the first nine months of the year, company data showed.
Real estate agent and property developer JSL Construction & Development Co (愛山林) led the average compensation rankings among companies listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) last year, while contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) finished 14th. JSL Construction paid its employees total average compensation of NT$4.78 million (US$159,701), down 13.5 percent from a year earlier, but still ahead of the most profitable listed tech giants, including TSMC, TWSE data showed. Last year, the average compensation (which includes salary, overtime, bonuses and allowances) paid by TSMC rose 21.6 percent to reach about NT$3.33 million, lifting its ranking by 10 notches
Popular vape brands such as Geek Bar might get more expensive in the US — if you can find them at all. Shipments of vapes from China to the US ground to a near halt last month from a year ago, official data showed, hit by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs and a crackdown on unauthorized e-cigarettes in the world’s biggest market for smoking alternatives. That includes Geek Bar, a brand of flavored vapes that is not authorized to sell in the US, but which had been widely available due to porous import controls. One retailer, who asked not to be named, because
SEASONAL WEAKNESS: The combined revenue of the top 10 foundries fell 5.4%, but rush orders and China’s subsidies partially offset slowing demand Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) further solidified its dominance in the global wafer foundry business in the first quarter of this year, remaining far ahead of its closest rival, Samsung Electronics Co, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. TSMC posted US$25.52 billion in sales in the January-to-March period, down 5 percent from the previous quarter, but its market share rose from 67.1 percent the previous quarter to 67.6 percent, TrendForce said in a report. While smartphone-related wafer shipments declined in the first quarter due to seasonal factors, solid demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) devices and urgent TV-related orders
MINERAL DIPLOMACY: The Chinese commerce ministry said it approved applications for the export of rare earths in a move that could help ease US-China trade tensions Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰) is today to meet a US delegation for talks in the UK, Beijing announced on Saturday amid a fragile truce in the trade dispute between the two powers. He is to visit the UK from yesterday to Friday at the invitation of the British government, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. He and US representatives are to cochair the first meeting of the US-China economic and trade consultation mechanism, it said. US President Donald Trump on Friday announced that a new round of trade talks with China would start in London beginning today,
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