TAXES
Revenue rises 9.9 percent
The national treasury last month collected NT$490.8 billion (US$16.04 billion) in tax revenue, an increase of 9.9 percent from a year earlier, attributable mainly to greater tobacco and house levies, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. Health and welfare taxes totaled NT$7.4 billion, more than double the level a year earlier, as smokers bought more cigarettes amid fears of price hikes after tax increases to sponsor long-term care services, the ministry said. In the first half of this year, tax revenue totaled NT$1.25 trillion, a 1.5 percent increase from the same period last year that surpassed the target by 6.8 percent, it added.
SOLAR ENERGY
Giga Solar ends buyback
Giga Solar Materials Corp (碩禾), a photovoltaic conductive paste maker, achieved just 50 percent of a planned share buyback scheme that ended yesterday. The company said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange that between May 16 and Monday it repurchased 750,000 shares on the open market at an average of NT$279.43 per share for a total of about NT$209 million. Giga Solar in May said it would buy back up to 1.5 million shares at between NT$240 to NT$350 per share, which were to be distributed to employees. The company attributed the lower-than-expected result to an unclear industry outlook and considerations on the firm’s fund management.
SMARTPHONES
Asustek mum on Gong rumor
Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) yesterday declined to comment on rumors that it plans to hire 38-year-old South Korean actor Gong Yoo as its spokesperson for a marketing campaign to be launched later this month. Local media reported that Asustek plans to spend up to NT$60 million to have Gong — who has risen to popularity across Asia through leading roles in the hit film Train to Busan and TV drama Guardian: the Lonely and Great God — become its principal promoter for the ZenFone 4 smartphone. Asustek declined to comment, but said there would be no changes to the planned launch of the new handset later this month.
MANUFACTURING
Largan shares get boost
Largan Precision Co (大立光), the world’s leading camera lens supplier for handsets, yesterday saw its shares hit another record high, as investors expect Apple Inc’s next-generation iPhones to boost its shipments in the second half of the year. Shares gained 3.83 percent to close at NT$5,285 after hitting an intraday high of NT$5,325 on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, where the TAIEX ended up 1.22 percent at 10,415.57. The closing price and intraday high were both records for Largan. The company is scheduled to hold its quarterly earnings conference tomorrow to shed light on its outlook for this quarter.
TRADE
Tianjin show nets deals
A trade fair featuring Taiwanese brands has concluded in northern Tianjin, China, with exhibitors in talks for potential licensing deals worth up to 1.8 billion yuan (US$264.68 million), the General Chamber of Commerce said yesterday. More than 800 Taiwanese brands were represented at the four-day fair organized by the chamber and the Tianjin city government. A total of 600 million yuan in sales of products on display were concluded during the show, while more than 250 Taiwanese exhibitors are in negotiations to license their brands or knowledge to Chinese entrepreneurs, the chamber said.
Elon Musk’s lieutenants have reached out to chip industry suppliers, including Applied Materials Inc, Tokyo Electron Ltd and Lam Research Corp, for his envisioned Terafab, early steps in an audacious and likely arduous attempt to break into the production of cutting-edge chips. Staff working for the joint venture between Tesla Inc and Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) have sought price quotes and delivery times for an array of chipmaking gear, people familiar with the matter said. In past weeks, they’ve contacted makers of photomasks, substrates, etchers, depositors, cleaning devices, testers and other tools, according to the people, who asked not to
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Japan approved ￥631.5 billion (US$3.97 billion) in additional subsidies to hasten Rapidus Corp’s entry into the high-stakes artificial intelligence (AI) chipmaking arena, ramping up support for a project widely regarded as a long shot. The capital is intended to bankroll Rapidus’ work for information technology firm Fujitsu Ltd, one of the initial customers that Tokyo hopes would get the signature endeavor off the ground. The new money raises the fees and investments that the government is injecting into the start-up to ￥2.6 trillion by the end of the current fiscal year to March next year, the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and
The founder of Chinese property giant Evergrande Group (恆大集團) has pleaded guilty to charges of fraud and bribery, a court said yesterday, the latest blow for what was once the country’s leading developer. Evergrande’s rise was propelled by decades of rapid urbanization and rising living standards, but in 2020, its access to credit dramatically narrowed when the government introduced curbs on excessive borrowing and speculation. The company defaulted in 2021 after struggling to repay creditors. Founder Xu Jiayin (許家印), 67, known as Hui Ka Yan in Cantonese, was reportedly held by police in 2023, with Evergrande saying he had been subjected to
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