EQUITIES
TAIEX slides after early low
Local shares yesterday closed moderately lower after recovering from an early low caused by escalating trade tensions between the US and China, dealers said. With contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) in the doldrums, the bellwether electronics sector led the downturn, while certain old economy stocks, in particular in the petrochemical sector, posted gains to give some support to the broader market, they said. The TAIEX ended down 44.29 points, or 0.41 percent, at 10,742.17, after moving between 10,651.42 and 10,752.99, on turnover of NT$140.70 billion (US$4.63 billion). Selling on the local main board pushed the TAIEX below the technical support of the 240-day moving average at 10,710 points before bargain hunters turned active, in particular in the late trading session, to help the index recoup most of its earlier losses by the end of the session, dealers said.
SOLAR POWER
SAS to pay cash dividend
Solar wafer and solar cell maker Sino-American Silicon Products Inc (SAS, 中美晶) yesterday said shareholders have approved the distribution of a cash dividend of NT$3 per common share by allocating NT$1.76 billion in surplus capital. Last year, net profit totaled a record high of NT$1.04 billion, benefiting from strong earnings of the firm’s silicon wafer manufacturing arm, GlobalWafers Co (環球晶圓), which translated into earnings per share of NT$1.8. To strengthen its financial performance, the firm said it has invested an initial capital of US$990 million to secure a 30.93 percent stake in Taiwan Special Chemical Corp (台特化), which produces key materials used in the production of semiconductors. SAS said it is accelerating its shift away from the slumping solar industry to avoid consistent losses.
CHEMICALS
Koo named CSRC chairman
China Synthetic Rubber Corp (CSRC, 中橡), the world’s fifth-largest carbon black supplier, yesterday appointed board director Jason Koo (辜公怡) as its new chairman after an annual shareholders’ meeting in Taipei. Koo, a fourth-generation scion of the family business, is also the vice chairman of CSRC’s parent company, Taiwan Cement Corp (台灣水泥). He is to take over CSRC’s top position, which was left vacant by Nelson Chang (張安平), who was elected as vice chairman during the board meeting, a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange said. Shareholders yesterday approved a proposal to distribute a cash dividend of NT$1.8 per share and a stock dividend of NT$1 per share, based on last year’s earnings per share of NT$3.69, company fillings showed.
PAPERMAKERS
Chung Hwa to pay dividend
Shareholders of Chung Hwa Pulp Co (中華紙漿), a major subsidiary of papermaking conglomerate YFY Inc (永豐餘控股), yesterday approved a plan to pay a cash dividend of NT$0.5 per share, a payout ratio of nearly 90 percent based on last year’s earnings per share of NT$0.56, the company said in a statement. With the company’s stock yesterday closing at NT$10.6, the dividend translates into a dividend yield of 4.7 percent. The papermaker’s revenue last year reached a new high of NT$22.71 billion, up 3.2 percent year-on-year, while net profit rose nearly 60 percent to NT$618.58 million, supported by higher product prices. Chung Hwa said it would raise prices for next quarter’s shipments to reflect an uptrend in raw material prices.
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
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
An Indian factory producing iPhone components resumed work yesterday after a fire that halted production — the third blaze to disrupt Apple Inc’s local supply chain since the start of last year. Local industrial behemoth Tata Group’s plant in Tamil Nadu, which was shut down by the unexplained fire on Saturday, is a key linchpin of Apple’s nascent supply chain in the country. A spokesperson for subsidiary Tata Electronics Pvt yesterday said that the company would restart work in “many areas of the facility today.” “We’ve been working diligently since Saturday to support our team and to identify the cause of the fire,”
TECH PARTNERSHIP: The deal with Arizona-based Amkor would provide TSMC with advanced packing and test capacities, a requirement to serve US customers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is collaborating with Amkor Technology Inc to provide local advanced packaging and test capacities in Arizona to address customer requirements for geographical flexibility in chip manufacturing. As part of the agreement, TSMC, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, would contract turnkey advanced packaging and test services from Amkor at their planned facility in Peoria, Arizona, a joint statement released yesterday said. TSMC would leverage these services to support its customers, particularly those using TSMC’s advanced wafer fabrication facilities in Phoenix, Arizona, it said. The companies would jointly define the specific packaging technologies, such as TSMC’s Integrated
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