STOCK MARKET
Securities firms see losses
Local securities firms reported a combined net loss of NT$1.81 billion (US$58.6 million) last month, down from net income of NT$360.52 million in September as the TAIEX fell about 1,200 points, or 10.94 percent, month-on-month in the wake of a drop on Wall Street, the Taiwan Stock Exchange said yesterday. From January to last month, securities firms reported a cumulative net income of NT$25.7 billion, down 20.57 percent from NT$32.36 billion in the same period last year, it said. The 34 integrated securities firms — which are allowed to engage in brokering, proprietary trading and underwriting — reported a combined net loss of NT$1.99 billion last month, compared with NT$234.73 million in profit in September, while their cumulative net income fell 21.56 percent annually to NT$22.41 billion in the first 10 months, the exchange said.
ELECTRONICS
Sinbon invests in Nextronics
Sinbon Electronics Co (信邦電子), which produces cables, connectors and modems, yesterday said that its board of directors has agreed to acquire 2.95 million common shares of Nextronics Engineering Corp (正淩精密) via a private placement, which it said could create more business opportunities and revenue sources. It offered NT$24.1 per share for Nextronics, which is based in New Taipei City’s Sijhih District (汐止) and makes connectors, valuing the deal at NT$71.095 million, Sinbon said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange. The firm said that it plans to pay the whole amount by Friday. Shares of Sinbon yesterday closed up 0.76 percent at NT$79.6 before the announcement of the private placement deal, while Nextronics shares were trading at NT$28.75.
ELECTRONICS
Excelliance eyes demand
IC designer Excelliance MOS Co (杰力) yesterday said that it would continue to benefit from robust demand for metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFET) next year, after sales in the first three quarters increased 49 percent annually to NT$1.07 billion. Rising prices and expanded capacity would also boost next year’s sales, it said. From January to September, net income doubled to NT$185 million, with earnings per share of NT$5.24. MOSFETs are used for amplifying or switching electronic signals. Rising demand for device driver components used in smart homes, cordless vacuum cleaners and electrical vehicles means that the supply-demand dynamic for MOSFETs would remain unchanged next year, the company said.
STOCK MARKET
New listings disappoint
Hong Kong’s hottest initial public offerings (IPO) have produced the worst returns for investors this year. Ping An Healthcare and Technology Co (平安健康互聯網), in which retail investors placed orders for 654 times the shares initially available, has tumbled 37 percent since it started trading in May. Biotechnology firm Ascletis Pharma Inc (歌禮製藥), whose retail book was covered 10 times, is down 44 percent from its IPO price, and food delivery giant Meituan Dianping (美團點評) has dropped 24 percent. However, while Redsun Properties Group Ltd (弘陽地產), Zhenro Properties Group Ltd (正榮地產) and DaFa Properties Group Ltd (大發地產) received initial orders filling on average just 0.8 times their retail books, they have climbed an average 18 percent from their IPO prices, putting them among the top five performers for deals of more than US$100 million.
TECH RACE: The Chinese firm showed off its new Mate XT hours after the latest iPhone launch, but its price tag and limited supply could be drawbacks China’s Huawei Technologies Co (華為) yesterday unveiled the world’s first tri-foldable phone, as it seeks to expand its lead in the world’s biggest smartphone market and steal the spotlight from Apple Inc hours after it debuted a new iPhone. The Chinese tech giant showed off its new Mate XT, which users can fold three ways like an accordion screen door, during a launch ceremony in Shenzhen. The Mate XT comes in red and black and has a 10.2-inch display screen. At 3.6mm thick, it is the world’s slimmest foldable smartphone, Huawei said. The company’s Web site showed that it has garnered more than
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: The US company could switch orders from TSMC to alternative suppliers, but that would lower chip quality, CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), whose products have become the hottest commodity in the technology world, on Wednesday said that the scramble for a limited amount of supply has frustrated some customers and raised tensions. “The demand on it is so great, and everyone wants to be first and everyone wants to be most,” he told the audience at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc technology conference in San Francisco. “We probably have more emotional customers today. Deservedly so. It’s tense. We’re trying to do the best we can.” Huang’s company is experiencing strong demand for its latest generation of chips, called
Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp (世界先進) and Episil Technologies Inc (漢磊) yesterday announced plans to jointly build an 8-inch fab to produce silicon carbide (SiC) chips through an equity acquisition deal. SiC chips offer higher efficiency and lower energy loss than pure silicon chips, and they are able to operate at higher temperatures. They have become crucial to the development of electric vehicles, artificial intelligence data centers, green energy storage and industrial devices. Vanguard, a contract chipmaker focused on making power management chips and driver ICs for displays, is to acquire a 13 percent stake in Episil for NT$2.48 billion (US$77.1 million).
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
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