UK real-estate services provider Savills PLC yesterday introduced its new executives at its Taiwan office, which is to double its staff in the coming two years to help local property funds invest overseas.
“Taiwan remains a key market for Savills in the region, although it fared weakly in the last few years,” Savills Asia-Pacific executive chairman Robert McKellar told a news conference to mark its 10-year presence in Taipei.
The British firm has appointed veteran broker Frank Marriott as managing director and Ricky Huang (黃瑞楠) as general manager of the local unit.
Savills Taiwan (第一太平戴維斯) posted healthy earnings last year, despite a lackluster market, as it shifted its focus from the housing market to industrial land and building deals, as well as overseas property investments, Huang said.
The local unit, which has a staff of 60, plans to add 60 to 80 workers in the next two years in anticipation of business growth as the commercial and land markets are about to come out of the woods, it said.
Commercial property deals amounted to NT$31.7 billion (US$1.04 billion) this quarter, growing twofold from a year earlier, thanks mainly to the purchase of a new office complex by Formosa Plastics Group (FPG, 台塑集團), the nation’s largest industrial conglomerate, Huang said.
FPG needs a temporary headquarters office, while its old one is undergoing urban renewal, he added.
Cumulative transactions reached NT$41.1 billion in the first half of the year, up more than 50 percent from last year, lending support to a recovery, Huang said.
Ongoing automation and data exchange in manufacturing technologies suggest more demand for new office and factory spaces, he said, adding that self-occupancy accounted for 81 percent of the property trade.
Land deals reached NT$57.7 billion in the first half of the year, nearly equal the amount for the whole of last year, as some developers increased land stock for future projects, Huang said.
Other builders have sought to diversify their income sources, prompted by a persistent decline in the nation’s birth rate and souring ties with China, Huang said.
Diversification explains why some developers have expanded into hotel operations while others seek business opportunities abroad, he said.
Property fund outflows from the Asia-Pacific region hit US$64.3 billion last year, the broker said.
Savills Taiwan can help match local idle funds with investment targets in overseas markets, he said.
PROTECTIONISM: China hopes to help domestic chipmakers gain more market share while preparing local tech companies for the possibility of more US sanctions Beijing is stepping up pressure on Chinese companies to buy locally produced artificial intelligence (AI) chips instead of Nvidia Corp products, part of the nation’s effort to expand its semiconductor industry and counter US sanctions. Chinese regulators have been discouraging companies from purchasing Nvidia’s H20 chips, which are used to develop and run AI models, sources familiar with the matter said. The policy has taken the form of guidance rather than an outright ban, as Beijing wants to avoid handicapping its own AI start-ups and escalating tensions with the US, said the sources, who asked not to be identified because the
Taipei is today suspending its US$2.5 trillion stock market as Super Typhoon Krathon approaches Taiwan with strong winds and heavy rain. The nation is not conducting securities, currency or fixed-income trading, statements from its stock and currency exchanges said. Yesterday, schools and offices were closed in several cities and counties in southern and eastern Taiwan, including in the key industrial port city of Kaohsiung. Taiwan, which started canceling flights, ship sailings and some train services earlier this week, has wind and rain advisories in place for much of the island. It regularly experiences typhoons, and in July shut offices and schools as
FALLING BEHIND: Samsung shares have declined more than 20 percent this year, as the world’s largest chipmaker struggles in key markets and plays catch-up to rival SK Hynix Samsung Electronics Co is laying off workers in Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand as part of a plan to reduce its global headcount by thousands of jobs, sources familiar with the situation said. The layoffs could affect about 10 percent of its workforces in those markets, although the numbers for each subsidiary might vary, said one of the sources, who asked not to be named because the matter is private. Job cuts are planned for other overseas subsidiaries and could reach 10 percent in certain markets, the source said. The South Korean company has about 147,000 in staff overseas, more than half
Her white-gloved, waistcoated uniform impeccable, 22-year-old Hazuki Okuno boards a bullet train replica to rehearse the strict protocols behind the smooth operation of a Japanese institution turning 60 Tuesday. High-speed Shinkansen trains began running between Tokyo and Osaka on Oct. 1, 1964, heralding a new era for rail travel as Japan grew into an economic superpower after World War II. The service remains integral to the nation’s economy and way of life — so keeping it dazzlingly clean, punctual and accident-free is a serious job. At a 10-story, state-of-the-art staff training center, Okuno shouted from the window and signaled to imaginary colleagues, keeping
RSS