Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) plans to sell NT$15.5 billion (US$508.2 million) of unsecured corporate bonds at an auction next month, marking the state-run utility’s second bond sale this year after selling NT$18 billion of bonds in May.
Taipower aims to use the bond sale to fund capital spending on upgrades to power generation facilities in Kaohsiung’s Dalin District (大林) and New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), the company said on Friday last week.
Taipower is the largest issuer of corporate bonds in Taiwan, with its outstanding bond issues accounting for 21 percent of the nation’s total corporate bonds at the end of last year, according to S&P Global Ratings. Therefore, the yields on its bonds are the most important pricing indicator in the nation’s corporate bond market.
In a statement posted on its Web site, the company said that the new bonds include NT$4.6 billion in five-year bonds, NT$5.6 billion in seven-year bonds and NT$5.3 billion in 10-year bonds.
Based on feedback it received from interested parties, the company said it proposes to pay a yield of 0.84 percent on the five-year bonds, 0.94 percent on the seven-year bonds and 1.09 percent on the 10-year bonds.
While the yield on the five-year bonds has not changed, the yields on this issue of seven and 10-year bonds are lower than in previous issues, reflecting heightened interest among local institutions.
The bonds are to be repaid in a lump sum at maturity, Taipower said, adding that the issuance still needs approval from the Taipei Exchange, which operates the nation’s bond market.
Separately, Taipower is today to present a five-year, NT$15 billion program to bolster its electricity distribution system to the Ministry of Economic Affairs, after more than 20 power interruptions were reported over the past two months that have raised concern about potential power shortages this summer.
Under the program, the company plans to inspect and improve all its power cables, switches, connectors and transformers, it said.
If approved by the ministry, the company is to start the program this month at the earliest, it added.
Meanwhile, Taipower said that the No. 2 reactor at the Guosheng Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Wanli District (萬里) resumed operations at 2:18pm on Saturday after being taken offline earlier that day for a safety inspection.
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
RSS