FINANCE
Fubon income falls 83%
Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控) yesterday reported a net income of NT$620 million (US$20.08 million) for last month, down 83 percent from a year earlier, as its flagship company suffered losses. Fubon Life Insurance Co (富邦人壽) posted a net loss of NT$1.05 billion, compared with a net income of NT$1.43 billion a year earlier, due to lower investment gains amid a global equity market rout and a stronger New Taiwan dollar vis a vis the US dollar. For the first 11 months of the year, Fubon Financial Holding saw its net income rise 5 percent year-on-year to NT$53.1 billion. Earnings per share were NT$5.04 over the period, it said.
COMPONENTS
Lite-On revenue drops 5%
Electronics component supplier Lite-On Technology Corp (光寶科技) yesterday reported consolidated revenue of NT$16.73 billion for last month, down 4.94 percent from a year ago. The figures do not include its mobile phone camera module business, which it sold earlier this year, the company said in a statement. For the first 11 months of this year, sales totaled NT$191.95 billion, down 2.85 percent from a year earlier, it said. A company sales breakdown for last month showed that its information technology business contributed 65 percent to total sales, while optoelectronics and storage accounted for 15 percent each.
AUTOMOTIVE
Hiroca sales rise 14%
Automotive components maker Hiroca Holdings Ltd (廣華控股) yesterday reported consolidated sales of NT$808 million for last month, up 13.89 percent month-on-month and 4.49 percent year-on-year. Cumulative sales in the first 11 months of the year increased 3.84 percent from a year earlier to NT$7.49 billion. Hiroca, which produces automotive interior trim parts, as well as plastic, fabric and leather decorations, said that rising shipments to major automakers, especially the three major Japanese brands, boosted its sales last month. Japanese automakers Toyota Motor Corp, Honda Motor Co and Nissan Motor Co accounted for more than 70 percent of the company’s revenue last month, with the remainder from European and US brands, it said.
TECHNOLOGY
Megvii seeks funding
Megvii (曠視科技), the Beijing-based owner of facial recognition technology company Face++, is in discussions with Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (阿里巴巴) and other investors as it seeks to raise at least US$500 million in new funding, according to people familiar with the matter. The company, which already counts Alibaba as a backer, is talking with Chinese private equity investors and is considering a valuation between US$3.5 billion and US$4 billion, the people said. The financing, which the firm hopes to close this month, would give Megvii ammunition to compete with local rival SenseTime Group Ltd (商湯科技), the people said.
BANKING
FTSE adds Shanghai bank
Shanghai Commercial and Savings Bank Ltd (SCSB, 上海商業儲蓄銀行) has been added to the FTSE TWSE Taiwan 50 Index after a quarterly index review, the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) said. Since its debut on Oct. 19, the bank has become one of the favorites of local and foreign institutional investors, who have bought a net 95 million of its shares as of Friday. Meanwhile, the FTSE has removed passive components maker Walsin Technology Corp (華新科技) from the Taiwan 50 Index. The index adjustments are to take effect on Saturday next week, the TWSE said.
The domestic unit of the Chinese-owned, Dutch-headquartered chipmaker Nexperia BV will soon be able to produce semiconductors locally within China, according to two company sources. Nexperia is at the center of a global tug-of-war over critical semiconductor technology, with a Dutch court in February ordering a probe into alleged mismanagement at the company. The geopolitical tussle has disrupted supply chains, with some carmakers reportedly forced to cut production due to chip shortages. Local production would allow Nexperia’s domestic arm, Nexperia Semiconductors (China) Ltd (安世半導體中國), to bypass restrictions in place since October on the supply of silicon wafers — etched with tiny components to
Singapore-based ride-hailing and delivery giant Grab Holdings Ltd has applied for regulatory approval to acquire the Taiwan operations of Germany-based Delivery Hero SE's Foodpanda in a deal valued at about US$600 million. Grab submitted the filing to the Fair Trade Commission on Friday last week, with the transaction subject to regulatory review and approval, the company said in a statement yesterday. Its independent governance structure would help foster a healthy and competitive market in Taiwan if the deal is approved, Grab said. Grab, which is listed on the NASDAQ, said in the filing that US-based Uber Technologies Inc holds about 13 percent of
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday received government approval to deploy its advanced 3-nanometer (3nm) process at its second fab currently under construction in Japan, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a news release. The ministry green-lit the plan for the facility in Kumamoto, which is scheduled to start installing equipment and come online in 2028 with a monthly production capacity of 15,000 12-inch wafers, the ministry said. The Department of Investment Review in June 2024 authorized a US$5.26 billion investment for the facility, slated to manufacture 6- to 12nm chips, significantly less advanced than 3nm process. At a meeting with
Taiwan’s food delivery market could undergo a major shift if Singapore-based Grab Holdings Ltd completes its planned acquisition of Delivery Hero SE’s Foodpanda business in Taiwan, industry experts said. Grab on Monday last week announced it would acquire Foodpanda’s Taiwan operations for US$600 million. The deal is expected to be finalized in the second half of this year, with Grab aiming to complete user migration to its platform by the first half of next year. A duopoly between Uber Eats and Foodpanda dominates Taiwan’s delivery market, a structure that has remained intact since the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) blocked Uber Technologies Inc’s
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