FOODMAKERS
Namchow eyes listing
Namchow Holdings Co (南僑投資控股) yesterday said that it has submitted an application to be listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange following the high-profile debut of Foxconn Industrial Internet Co (FII, 富士康工業互聯網), a subsidiary of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), on the market. Namchow Food Group (Shanghai) Co (上海南僑食品集團), which is 96.15 percent-owned by its Taiwanese parent, has submitted an initial public offering application to the China Securities Regulatory Commission, Namchow Holdings said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange. Namchow said the Shanghai listing would help accelerate its expansion in China, and provide it greater brand recognition and access to investment and talent.
PHARMACEUTICALS
SynCore to issue new shares
SynCore Biotechnology Co (杏國新藥), a new drug development subsidiary of Sinphar Group (杏輝醫藥集團), on Tuesday said that its shareholders approved plans to launch a private placement funding round. The plan to issue no more than 14 million new common shares, which was approved by SynCore’s board of directors last month, got the green light from shareholders at the company’s annual general meeting in Taipei. New drug development is a lengthy and capital-intensive process, and new funding is required to support drugs in the pipeline, the company said.
TECHNOLOGY
Microsoft, school ink deal
Microsoft Corp yesterday inked a partnership to develop Taiwan’s artificial intelligence (AI) talent pool with Taichung-based Asia University. The program aims to develop AI applications on speech rehabilitation, voice assistants and unstaffed libraries. The partnership is part of Microsoft’s efforts to cultivate AI talent in Taiwan by letting students to apply their learning to pave the way for a much-needed industrial transformation.
TAXATION
Claw machine revenue soars
Tax revenue from arcade claw machines surged in the first five months of this year following a resurgence in their popularity, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. Revenue from the machines between January and last month totaled NT$86.88 million (US$2.88 million), topping last year’s total annual revenue of NT$85.9 million, the ministry said. The number of claw machine arcades surged to 6,409 as of the end of last month, compared with 4,181 at the end of last year, the ministry said. Arcade claw machines account for about NT$1.6 billion in tax revenue for the nation, ranking fourth in the entertainment tax category, it said.
EQUITIES
Shares stage rebound
Shares in Taiwan yesterday staged a technical rebound from a plunge on Tuesday, as select large-cap stocks in both the electronics and non-technology sectors attracted bargain hunting, dealers said. However, the gains were limited, as market sentiment remained uneasy over escalating trade tensions between the US and China, as well as lingering concern over fund outflows from the nation in the wake of the weakness of the New Taiwan dollar, they said. The TAIEX closed up 0.21 percent at 10,927.44 on turnover of NT$178.06 billion. A dealer said he suspected that government-led funds were buying non-technology shares in a bid to help the equity market emerge from a rout the previous session.
INVESTOR RESILIENCE? An analyst said that despite near-term pressures, foreign investors tend to view NT dollar strength as a positive signal for valuation multiples Morgan Stanley has flagged a potential 10 percent revenue decline for Taiwan’s tech hardware sector this year, as a sharp appreciation of the New Taiwan dollar begins to dent the earnings power of major exporters. In what appears to be the first such warning from a major foreign brokerage, the US investment bank said the currency’s strength — fueled by foreign capital inflows and expectations of US interest rate cuts — is compressing profit margins for manufacturers with heavy exposure to US dollar-denominated revenues. The local currency has surged about 10 percent against the greenback over the past quarter and yesterday breached
MARKET FACTORS: Navitas Semiconductor Inc said that Powerchip is to take over from TSMC as its supplier of high-voltage gallium nitride chips Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday in a statement said that it would phase out its compound semiconductor gallium nitride (GaN) business over the next two years, citing market dynamics. The decision would not affect its financial targets announced previously, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker said. “We are working closely with our customers to ensure a smooth transition and remain committed to meeting their needs during this period,” it said. “Our focus continues to be on delivering sustained value to our partners and the market.” TSMC’s latest move came unexpectedly, as the chipmaker had said in its annual report that it has
SECURITY WARNING: The company possesses key 3-nanometer technology, and Taiwan should prevent it from being transferred to China, a lawmaker said The Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday said it would conduct a “strict review” of any proposed acquisition of Taiwanese tech company Source Photonics Co (索爾思光電), following media reports that a Chinese firm was planning to buy the company in the Hsinchu Science Park (新竹科學園區). Local media reported that Suzhou Dongshan Precision Manufacturing Co (東山精密), China’s largest printed circuit board manufacturer, had announced plans to acquire Source Photonics for 5.9 billion yuan (US$823.1 million). The ministry said it has not received an application from Source Photonics and has formally notified the company that any buyout would constitute a change in its ownership structure. The
ELECTRONICS: Strong growth in cloud services and smart consumer electronics offset computing declines, helping the company to maintain sales momentum, Hon Hai said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) on Saturday announced that its sales for last month rose 10 percent year-on-year, driven by strong growth in cloud and networking products amid the ongoing artificial intelligence (AI) boom. The company, also known internationally as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), reported consolidated sales of NT$540.24 billion (US$18.67 billion) for the month, the highest ever for the period, and a 10.09 percent increase from a year earlier, although it was down 12.26 percent from the previous month. Hon Hai, which is Apple Inc’s primary iPhone assembler and makes servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s AI accelerators, said its cloud
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