MICROECONOMICS
Foreign reserves hit high
The nation’s foreign-exchange reserves as of the end of last month hit a new high for the 12th consecutive month, largely on the back of an increase in returns on funds managed by the central bank from a month earlier. However, the euro’s depreciation against the US dollar offset the effects of higher investment returns to slow the monthly growth in the foreign reserves, the bank said on Tuesday. As of the end of last month, foreign reserves stood at US$457.19 billion, up US$467 million from the end of February. The growth was shy of a month-on-month rise of US$997 million in February, central bank data showed.
ELECTRONICS
Ichia revenue up 63 percent
Handset keypad maker Ichia Technologies Inc (毅嘉科技) on Tuesday posted revenue of NT$614 million (US$21 million) for last month, up 9 percent from a year ago and 63 percent from the previous month. The company said in a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange that last month’s revenue included about NT$488 million in sales of flexible printed circuit integrated components and about NT$131 million from mechanical integrated components. The company said its first-quarter revenue expanded 8 percent year-on-year to NT$1.59 billion, driven mostly by flexible printed circuit boards used in mobile devices and automotive parts.
SOLAR
GET sales down 9 percent
Green Energy Technology Inc (GET, 綠能科技), the nation’s largest solar wafer maker, on Tuesday reported sales of NT$851 million last month, up 5.8 percent month-on-month, but down 9 percent year-on-year. In the first quarter, sales totaled NT$2.62 billion, down 23.4 percent quarterly and 0.28 percent annually, it said in a statement. “In spite of concerns over industry trading barriers, pricing in the solar supply-chain is stabilizing. GET’s in-house capacity utilization was about 90 percent last month,” it said. The company plans to speed up module development with support from its parent company, Tatung Group (大同), to extend its downstream business in global high-end markets, it said.
AVIATION
Mandarin launch new route
Mandarin Airlines (華信航空) on Monday announced that it would start flying between Taichung and Tokyo in June, the first airline to fly the route. The airline is to offer a daily flight from June 14, with the outbound flight departing from Taichung International Airport at 7:30am and arriving at Narita Interntiaonal Airport at noon. Flights from Japan are to take off at 1pm and arrive in Taichung at 3:50pm, said the airline, a subsidiary of China Airlines Ltd (中華航空).
E-COMMERCE
Momo to distribute dividend
TV and online retailer Momo.com Inc (富邦媒體) has proposed distributing a cash dividend of NT$8 per share, representing a payout ratio of 88.2 percent based on last year’s earnings per share (EPS) of NT$9.07. The company said it expects strengthening sales momentum for this year, after combined sales in the first two months this year grew 36.6 percent annually to NT$6.94 billion. Meanwhile, Eastern Home Shopping & Leisure Co (EHS, 東森購物) plans to distribute a cash dividend of NT$4 per share, based on EPS of NT$3.2 last year. In the first two months of this year, it posted sales of NT$2.34 billion and EPS of NT$0.9, EHS said.
The Eurovision Song Contest has seen a surge in punter interest at the bookmakers, becoming a major betting event, experts said ahead of last night’s giant glamfest in Basel. “Eurovision has quietly become one of the biggest betting events of the year,” said Tomi Huttunen, senior manager of the Online Computer Finland (OCS) betting and casino platform. Betting sites have long been used to gauge which way voters might be leaning ahead of the world’s biggest televised live music event. However, bookmakers highlight a huge increase in engagement in recent years — and this year in particular. “We’ve already passed 2023’s total activity and
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) today announced that his company has selected "Beitou Shilin" in Taipei for its new Taiwan office, called Nvidia Constellation, putting an end to months of speculation. Industry sources have said that the tech giant has been eyeing the Beitou Shilin Science Park as the site of its new overseas headquarters, and speculated that the new headquarters would be built on two plots of land designated as "T17" and "T18," which span 3.89 hectares in the park. "I think it's time for us to reveal one of the largest products we've ever built," Huang said near the
China yesterday announced anti-dumping duties as high as 74.9 percent on imports of polyoxymethylene (POM) copolymers, a type of engineering plastic, from Taiwan, the US, the EU and Japan. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce’s findings conclude a probe launched in May last year, shortly after the US sharply increased tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, computer chips and other imports. POM copolymers can partially replace metals such as copper and zinc, and have various applications, including in auto parts, electronics and medical equipment, the Chinese ministry has said. In January, it said initial investigations had determined that dumping was taking place, and implemented preliminary
Intel Corp yesterday reinforced its determination to strengthen its partnerships with Taiwan’s ecosystem partners including original-electronic-manufacturing (OEM) companies such as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電). “Tonight marks a new beginning. We renew our new partnership with Taiwan ecosystem,” Intel new chief executive officer Tan Lip-bu (陳立武) said at a dinner with representatives from the company’s local partners, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the US chip giant’s presence in Taiwan. Tan took the reins at Intel six weeks ago aiming to reform the chipmaker and revive its past glory. This is the first time Tan
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