PANEL MAKERS
GIS to raise funds with GDRs
General Interface Solution Holding Ltd (GIS, 業成), a touchpanel manufacturing unit of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), is expected to raise more than NT$6.298 billion (US$207.17 million) by issuing 30 million global depositary receipts (GDRs), each of which represents one GIS common share, the firm said yesterday in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange. The company said it is to price the GDRs at US$6.9 each, a 6.5 percent discount to its closing share price of NT$224.5 in Taipei trading on Thursday, based on a fixed exchange rate of NT$30.429 versus the US dollar at 11am. The GDRs are to be traded on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange, it said.
STEELMAKERS
Chung Hung to improve mix
Chung Hung Steel Corp (中鴻鋼鐵), a subsidiary of China Steel Corp (CSC, 中鋼), yesterday told shareholders that it would improve its product mix by raising the proportion of higher-margin steel pipes. The remarks came after shareholders approved management’s plan to pay no dividend, even though the company last year posted a net income of NT$1.91 billion, or earnings per share of NT$1.33. Chung Hung has over the past few years accumulated a total of NT$4.5 billion in debt and has not paid cash or stock dividends in the past 10 years. Chung Hung chairman Chiu Shuenn-der (邱順得) said the company, which reported earnings per share of NT$0.48 in the first quarter of this year, remains cautiously optimistic about sales and profitability this year.
STEELMAKERS
FPG appoints unit president
Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corp (台塑河靜鋼鐵興業) vice president Chang Fu-ning (張復寧) has been promoted to president, Formosa Plastics Group (FPG, 台塑集團) said in a statement yesterday. Chen Yuan-cheng (陳源成) would no longer serve as both chairman and president of the group’s steel mill in Vietnam, FPG said. The personnel adjustments took effect on Monday, it added. Chang, a 38-year veteran at FPG, in 2014 joined Formosa Ha Tinh Steel, which earlier this month started trial operations of its No. 1 blast furnace.
PC MAKERS
Acer taps former premier
Acer Inc (宏碁) yesterday said its board has named independent board director Simon Chang (張善政) to lead a new investment committee, which is to review the company’s new investments, joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, and other strategic planning. Chang is chairman of the Taiwan Mobile Foundation and formerly served as the nation’s premier. Members of the committee also include Acer chairman Jason Chen (陳俊聖), founder Stan Shih (施振榮), former chairman George Huang (黃少華) and Lee Ji-ren (李吉仁), professor of international business at National Taiwan University.
FOOD AND BEVERAGE
TTFB to pay record dividend
Shareholders of Tai Tong Food & Beverage Group (TTFB, 瓦城泰統集團), which operates six restaurant chains led by Thai Town Cuisine (瓦城泰式料理), on Thursday approved a record-high cash dividend of NT$11.6 per share on last year’s earnings per share of NT$13.12. Net profit last year soared 9.33 percent year-on-year to NT$305 million, while sales increased 11.61 percent to NT$3.85 billion, which the firm attributed to its multiple-brand strategy, TTFB said. The restaurant chain operator said it aims to launch its seventh brand by the end of this year, in line with plans to establish six new cuisine chains before 2020.
Shares of contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) came under pressure yesterday after a report that Apple Inc is looking to shift some orders from the Taiwanese company to Intel Corp. TSMC shares fell NT$55, or 2.4 percent, to close at NT$2,235 on the local main board, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. Despite the losses, TSMC is expected to continue to benefit from sound fundamentals, as it maintains a lead over its peers in high-end process development, analysts said. “The selling was a knee-jerk reaction to an Intel-Apple report over the weekend,” Mega International Investment Services Corp (兆豐國際投顧) analyst Alex Huang
TRANSITION: With the closure, the company would reorganize its Taiwanese unit to a sales and service-focused model, Bridgestone said Bridgestone Corp yesterday announced it would cease manufacturing operations at its tire plant in Hsinchu County’s Hukou Township (湖口), affecting more than 500 workers. Bridgestone Taiwan Co (台灣普利司通) said in a statement that the decision was based on the Tokyo-based tire maker’s adjustments to its global operational strategy and long-term market development considerations. The Taiwanese unit would be reorganized as part of the closure, effective yesterday, and all related production activities would be concluded, the statement said. Under the plan, Bridgestone would continue to deepen its presence in the Taiwanese market, while transitioning to a sales and service-focused business model, it added. The Hsinchu
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has approved a capital budget of US$31.28 billion for production expansion to meet long-term development needs during the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. The company’s board meeting yesterday approved the capital appropriation plan for purposes such as the installation of advanced technology capacity and fab construction, the world’s largest contract chipmaker said in a statement. At an earnings conference last month, TSMC forecast that its capital expenditure for this year would be at the higher end of the US$52 billion to US$56 billion range it forecast in January in response to robust demand for 5G, AI and
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) investment project in Arizona has progressed better than expected, but it still faces challenges such as water and labor shortages, National Development Council (NDC) Minister Yeh Chun-hsien (葉俊顯) said yesterday. Speaking with reporters after visiting TSMC’s Arizona hub and attending the SelectUSA Investment Summit in Maryland last week, Yeh said TSMC’s Arizona site turned a profit of NT$16.14 billion (US$514 million) last year in its first full year of mass production. “TSMC told me it was surprised by the smooth trial run of the first fab, which has left the company optimistic about the project’s outlook,”
RSS