BANKING
Banks’ profitability drops
Local banks last year posted declines in return on assets (ROA) and return on equity (ROE) for the third straight year, the Financial Supervisory Commission said on Thursday. Banks’ ROA and ROE came in at 0.67 percent and 8.97 percent respectively, falling by 0.01 and 0.26 percentage points from the previous year, as assets expansion outpaced growth in profitability, the commission said. A surge in penalties for infractions at home and abroad over the past three years also contributed to the decline, it said. ROA dropped to a six-year low, while ROE slid to an eight-year low, it added.
ENERGY
Swancor, FPG firms team up
Resin manufacturer and wind farm developer Swancor Holding Co (上緯) on Thursday said it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with two Formosa Plastics Group (FPG, 台塑集團) members to develop a local supply chain for offshore wind farms. Formosa Plastics Corp (台塑) and Formosa Heavy Industries Corp (台朔重工) are to produce materials used in turbine blades and underwater structure of wind turbines respectively for Swancor’s ongoing projects, the company said in a statement. Swancor has been working on its offshore energy project since 2013, with business partners including Sydney-headquartered Macquarie Capital Ltd and Denmark-based Orsted A/S.
MEDIA
VHQ plans to raise NT$740m
Singapore-based VHQ Media Holdings Ltd plans to raise capital of NT$740 million (US$25.26 million) through the issuance of 5.22 million new common shares. The company on Wednesday said that it has set the price at NT$141.78 per share and the proceeds would be used to purchase a 70 percent stake in Beijing Jupiter Cultural Media Inc (木星時代文化傳媒), a deal that is expected to be completed in the second quarter, it said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange. VHQ offers movie production, TV commercials visual design, special effects, 3D animation and post-production services.
RETAIL
Eslite announces dividends
Eslite Spectrum Corp (誠品生活), which operates bookstores, restaurants, hotels and commercial centers, on Tuesday said its board has approved a plan to distribute cash dividends of NT$7.56 per common share, representing a payout ratio of 84.85 percent based on last year’s earnings per share of NT$8.91. Revenue last year edged up 0.35 percent from the previous year to NT$4.28 billion, while net income rose 0.5 percent to NT$423 million. The company is to hold an annual general meeting on May 29 at the Eslite Xinyi Store in Taipei, where shareholders are to vote on the dividend proposal.
ELECTRONICS
Tripod profit jumps 22%
Printed circuit board supplier Tripod Technology Corp (健鼎科技) on Tuesday reported that net profit for last year rose 22.19 percent to NT$4.37 billion, or earnings per share of NT$8.31, the highest since 2010. Gross margin increased 0.26 percentage points to 18.23 percent and revenue expanded 22.19 percent to NT$45.82 billion. The company expects revenue this year to grow by 8 to 10 percent, buoyed by its solid state drive and “smart” speaker segments, as well as increased orders from top Chinese handset and automotive clients. Tripod operates plants in Taoyuan as well as in China’s Jiangsu and Hubei provinces.
Taiwan’s technology protection rules prohibits Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) from producing 2-nanometer chips abroad, so the company must keep its most cutting-edge technology at home, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. Kuo made the remarks in response to concerns that TSMC might be forced to produce advanced 2-nanometer chips at its fabs in Arizona ahead of schedule after former US president Donald Trump was re-elected as the next US president on Tuesday. “Since Taiwan has related regulations to protect its own technologies, TSMC cannot produce 2-nanometer chips overseas currently,” Kuo said at a meeting of the legislature’s
GEOPOLITICAL ISSUES? The economics ministry said that political factors should not affect supply chains linking global satellite firms and Taiwanese manufacturers Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) asked Taiwanese suppliers to transfer manufacturing out of Taiwan, leading to some relocating portions of their supply chain, according to sources employed by and close to the equipment makers and corporate documents. A source at a company that is one of the numerous subcontractors that provide components for SpaceX’s Starlink satellite Internet products said that SpaceX asked their manufacturers to produce outside of Taiwan because of geopolitical risks, pushing at least one to move production to Vietnam. A second source who collaborates with Taiwanese satellite component makers in the nation said that suppliers were directly
Top Taiwanese officials yesterday moved to ease concern about the potential fallout of Donald Trump’s return to the White House, making a case that the technology restrictions promised by the former US president against China would outweigh the risks to the island. The prospect of Trump’s victory in this week’s election is a worry for Taipei given the Republican nominee in the past cast doubt over the US commitment to defend it from Beijing. But other policies championed by Trump toward China hold some appeal for Taiwan. National Development Council Minister Paul Liu (劉鏡清) described the proposed technology curbs as potentially having
EXPORT CONTROLS: US lawmakers have grown more concerned that the US Department of Commerce might not be aggressively enforcing its chip restrictions The US on Friday said it imposed a US$500,000 penalty on New York-based GlobalFoundries Inc, the world’s third-largest contract chipmaker, for shipping chips without authorization to an affiliate of blacklisted Chinese chipmaker Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC, 中芯). The US Department of Commerce in a statement said GlobalFoundries sent 74 shipments worth US$17.1 million to SJ Semiconductor Corp (盛合晶微半導體), an affiliate of SMIC, without seeking a license. Both SMIC and SJ Semiconductor were added to the department’s trade restriction Entity List in 2020 over SMIC’s alleged ties to the Chinese military-industrial complex. SMIC has denied wrongdoing. Exports to firms on the list