BANKING
Mega Bank signs loan deal
State-run Mega International Commercial Bank (兆豐銀行) yesterday said it has inked a syndicated loan contract with General Interface Solution (GIS) Holding Ltd (業成控股) so the borrower can expand. Seven other lenders, including DBS Bank, Chang Hwa Commercial Bank (彰化銀行) and Bank of Taiwan (台灣銀行), also took part in the US$300 million syndicated loan over three years, Mega Bank said in a statement. GIS designs, manufactures and sells touch and LCD display modules in Asia, the US and Europe. Its products are used in wearable devices and smartphones.
STEELMAKERS
CSC income surges 42%
China Steel Corp (CSC, 中鋼), the nation’s only integrated steelmaker, yesterday said its pretax income last month jumped 42 percent to NT$2.33 billion (US$79.7 million) from NT$1.63 billion the previous year, supported by rising steel prices. Revenue rose 30 percent year-on-year to NT$32.82 billion from NT$25.16 billion, a company statement said. Operating income over the period increased 17 percent year-on-year to NT$2.48 billion from NT$2.12 billion, it said. The company, which sold 971,312 tonnes of steel products last month, is scheduled to announce its latest price adjustments for deliveries in the second quarter today. CSC shares yesterday fell 1.22 percent to close at NT$24.2 in Taipei trading before the earnings announcement.
TOURISM
Life Travel to issue shares
Life Travel & Tourist Service Co Ltd (五福旅遊), a travel consultancy firm, yesterday said its board has approved a plan to raise capital of between NT$86.3 million and NT$103.56 million through the issuance of nearly 3.45 million new shares in a bid to replenish its operating capital. The company plans to price the new shares at between NT$25 and NT$30, according to a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange. The company’s shares yesterday edged up 0.43 percent to close at NT$39.5 on the emerging market.
INTERNET
Tissue paper sales rocket
PChome Online Inc (網路家庭) yesterday said it has sold 50,000 cartons of tissue paper in the past three days ahead of a price increase, with sales surging 22-fold compared with the same period last month. The firm sold more than 30,000 cartons of tissue paper on Saturday last week, PChome, the nation’s largest online shopping portal, said in a statement. About 95 percent of the tissue paper listed on PChome’s Web site has sold out, the company said, adding that it started restocking the products yesterday. The average daily sales of tissue paper were about 1,000 cartons before the news of the price increase broke last week, PChome said.
TEXTILES
Roo Hsing to buy stake
Jeans manufacturer Roo Hsing Co Ltd (如興) yesterday said it is to spend up to US$50 million to indirectly acquire a 53.41 percent stake in Chuwa Wool Industry Co Ltd (中和羊毛), in a strategy to expand the company’s presence in the textile industry. The acquisition is to be made through Roo Hsing’s planned investment in Keen Power Investment Ltd (Samoa) and Sparkling Asia Ltd (Belize), the company said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange. The transaction is expected to be completed this quarter, the Central News Agency quoted the company as saying.
TECH PARTNERSHIP: The deal with Arizona-based Amkor would provide TSMC with advanced packing and test capacities, a requirement to serve US customers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is collaborating with Amkor Technology Inc to provide local advanced packaging and test capacities in Arizona to address customer requirements for geographical flexibility in chip manufacturing. As part of the agreement, TSMC, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, would contract turnkey advanced packaging and test services from Amkor at their planned facility in Peoria, Arizona, a joint statement released yesterday said. TSMC would leverage these services to support its customers, particularly those using TSMC’s advanced wafer fabrication facilities in Phoenix, Arizona, it said. The companies would jointly define the specific packaging technologies, such as TSMC’s Integrated
An Indian factory producing iPhone components resumed work yesterday after a fire that halted production — the third blaze to disrupt Apple Inc’s local supply chain since the start of last year. Local industrial behemoth Tata Group’s plant in Tamil Nadu, which was shut down by the unexplained fire on Saturday, is a key linchpin of Apple’s nascent supply chain in the country. A spokesperson for subsidiary Tata Electronics Pvt yesterday said that the company would restart work in “many areas of the facility today.” “We’ve been working diligently since Saturday to support our team and to identify the cause of the fire,”
China’s economic planning agency yesterday outlined details of measures aimed at boosting the economy, but refrained from major spending initiatives. The piecemeal nature of the plans announced yesterday appeared to disappoint investors who were hoping for bolder moves, and the Shanghai Composite Index gave up a 10 percent initial gain as markets reopened after a weeklong holiday to end 4.59 percent higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dived 9.41 percent. Chinese National Development and Reform Commission Chairman Zheng Shanjie (鄭珊潔) said the government would frontload 100 billion yuan (US$14.2 billion) in spending from the government’s budget for next year in addition
Sales RecORD: Hon Hai’s consolidated sales rose by about 20 percent last quarter, while Largan, another Apple supplier, saw quarterly sales increase by 17 percent IPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) on Saturday reported its highest-ever quarterly sales for the third quarter on the back of solid global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) globally, said it posted NT$1.85 trillion (US$57.93 billion) in consolidated sales in the July-to-September quarter, up 19.46 percent from the previous quarter and up 20.15 percent from a year earlier. The figure beat the previous third-quarter high of NT$1.74 trillion recorded in 2022, company data showed. Due to rising demand for AI, Hon Hai said its cloud and networking division enjoyed strong sales
RSS