PASSIVE COMPONENTS
Yageo posts record sales
Yageo Corp (國巨), the nation’s leading passive component manufacturer, yesterday posted sales of NT$3.34 billion (US$113.13 million) for last month, its highest monthly sales performance since the company was listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange in 1993. The monthly result represented 47.1 percent year-on-year growth and it was the sixth consecutive month it posted a double-digit percentage year-on-year expansion in revenue, according to a company filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange. That brought Yageo’s combined revenue to NT$32.25 billion last year, a new annual record.
PHARMACEUTICALS
Early drug approval eyed
ASLAN Pharmaceuticals Ltd (亞獅康) yesterday said that commercialization of varlitinib, an inhibitor that helps in managing tumor growth, could begin in China one year earlier than previously anticipated, pending the outcome of a clinical trial study. The company said that it could report top-line data from the trial before the end of this year, which, if favorable, would allow the company to submit its first regulatory filing seeking approval for varltinib as a second-line biliary tract cancer treatment, ahead of previous time frames. The Chinese Food and Drug Administration has made regulatory changes to accelerate the development of innovative drugs addressing areas of need in the nation, such as biliary tract cancer, ASLAN chief operating officer Carl Firth said.
AUTOMOTIVE PARTS
Tong Yang sales up 1.09%
Tong Yang Industry Co (東陽實業), which supplies automotive metal sheets and bumpers to global brands, yesterday posted record-high sales for last year, mainly supported by stable growth of its original equipment manufacturing (OEM) car components business. Revenue last year rose 1.09 percent year-on-year to NT$24.45 billion, with sales at the OEM business increasing 8 percent year-on-year to NT$9.26 billion, the company said in a statement. To meet growing demand for OEM car parts, the company’s two plants in China are scheduled to begin mass production in the first half of this year, it said. Tong Yang shares yesterday closed 0.34 percent higher after the announcement of the financial results.
FINANCIAL SERVICES
E.Sun income grows 12.2%
E.Sun Financial Holding Co (玉山金控) yesterday reported that net income last year rose 12.2 percent year-on-year to NT$14.74 billion, propelled by stable growth in the core businesses of E.Sun Commercial Bank (玉山銀行), its main subsidiary. Earnings per share were NT$1.49. The lender said that its online lending platform and other digital services were the primary growth drivers. Separately, Taishin Financial Holding Co (台新金控) reported that its net income rose 15 percent year-on-year to NT$13.05 billion. The company said that earnings growth last year was dampened due to an additional NT$600 million in general provision charges by Taishin International Bank (台新銀行), its main subsidiary. Earnings per share were NT$1.15.
PHARMACEUTICALS
Pharmally eyes Indonesia
Pharmally International Holding Co Ltd (康友製藥), a maker of large volume parenteral solutions for vaccines and intravenous medicines, yesterday said that it is upbeat on rising demand for its avian flu vaccines from the Indonesian poultry industry. The company reported that sales last year dipped 0.69 percent year-on-year to NT$4.31 billion.
Japanese technology giant Softbank Group Corp said Tuesday it has sold its stake in Nvidia Corp, raising US$5.8 billion to pour into other investments. It also reported its profit nearly tripled in the first half of this fiscal year from a year earlier. Tokyo-based Softbank said it sold the stake in Silicon Vally-based Nvidia last month, a move that reflects its shift in focus to OpenAI, owner of the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot ChatGPT. Softbank reported its profit in the April-to-September period soared to about 2.5 trillion yen (about US$13 billion). Its sales for the six month period rose 7.7 percent year-on-year
CRESTING WAVE: Companies are still buying in, but the shivers in the market could be the first signs that the AI wave has peaked and the collapse is upon the world Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday reported a new monthly record of NT$367.47 billion (US$11.85 billion) in consolidated sales for last month thanks to global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications. Last month’s figure represented 16.9 percent annual growth, the slowest pace since February last year. On a monthly basis, sales rose 11 percent. Cumulative sales in the first 10 months of the year grew 33.8 percent year-on-year to NT$3.13 trillion, a record for the same period in the company’s history. However, the slowing growth in monthly sales last month highlights uncertainty over the sustainability of the AI boom even as
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,
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
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