INSURANCE
Premium income hits high
Non-life-insurance companies last year received NT$156.7 billion (US$5.35 billion) in gross premiums, up 7.4 percent from a year earlier, marking a new record high, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics said on Friday last week. The increase was mainly due to growth in premium income from automobile insurance, which totaled NT$86 billion last year, up by 7.3 percent year-on-year, the agency said. Premium income from fire insurance grew 9.8 percent to NT$25.3 billion, it added.
E-COMMERCE
TPEX launches ‘e’ category
The Taipei Exchange on Friday said that six companies, including PChome Online Inc (網路家庭), Sunfun Info Co (尚凡資訊) and Gomaji (夠麻吉), would from March 12 be listed in a new e-commerce category, as part of its efforts to promote growth in the e-commerce sector. The firms are currently listed in the information technology and cultural and creative industry categories. Companies that made at least half of their annual revenue from online sales over the past two years, or 80 percent over the past year, are eligible to be listed in the category, the exchange said.
BIOCHEMICALS
SciVision sales grow 174%
SciVision Biotech Inc (科妍生技), which produces hyaluronic acid for use in plastic surgery and treatment of degenerative joint diseases, has seen sales hit fresh highs for three months in a row. The company on Friday in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange reported that revenue last month increased 174 percent year-on-year to NT$36.16 million, while its combined revenue in the first two months grew 133.55 percent from the same period last year to NT$71.78 million.
Ryanair, Transavia, Volotea and other low-cost airlines are feeling the financial pain from high jet fuel prices as a result of the Middle East war and are cutting flights. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has taken a huge chunk of oil supplies off the market, sending the price of jet fuel soaring and triggering fears of shortages that could force airlines to cancel flights. Airlines are not waiting for a lack of supplies to react. “Travel alert: Airlines are cutting thousands of flights right now,” Travel Therapy host Karen Schaler said in an Instagram reel this past weekend.
MANAGING RISKS: Taiwan has secured LNG sufficient to cover 95 percent of electricity demand for next month, UBS said, describing the government’s approach as proactive UBS Group AG has raised its forecast for Taiwan’s economic growth this year to 8 percent, up from 6.9 percent previously, and said expansion could reach as high as 8.6 percent if external energy shocks are avoided. The upgrade reflects a stronger-than-expected first-quarter performance and sustained momentum in artificial intelligence (AI)-driven exports, which UBS said are providing a firm foundation for growth despite geopolitical and energy risks. Taiwan’s GDP expanded 13.69 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, the fastest growth since the second quarter of 1987, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) reported on Thursday. On a seasonally
The Fair Trade Commission’s (FTC) ongoing review of Grab Holdings Ltd’s US$600 million acquisition of Foodpanda Taiwan’s operations, announced on March 23, has taken on fresh urgency as industry experts warn that the transaction could embed significant Chinese cybersecurity vulnerabilities into Taiwan’s digital infrastructure through Grab’s deep ties to autonomous-driving firm WeRide (文遠知行). Less than 16 months after the FTC blocked Uber Eats’ direct attempt to acquire Foodpanda Taiwan — citing potential combined market shares of 80 to 90 percent — the emergence of Grab as the buyer has prompted questions about whether the same competitive harm is simply being rerouted
The list of Asian stocks that benefit from business partnership with Nvidia Corp is getting longer, as the region further integrates into the artificial intelligence (AI) chip giant’s business ecosystem. Just in the past week, South Korea’s LG Electronics Inc, Taiwan’s Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技), as well as China’s Huizhou Desay SV Automotive Co (德賽西威) and Pateo Connect Technology Shanghai Corp (博泰車聯) have become the latest to rally on news of tie-ups, supply-chain participation or product collaboration with the US chip designer. Asian suppliers account for about 90 percent of Nvidia’s production costs, up from about 65 percent last year, data compiled
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