BANKING
Yuan deposits decline
Yuan deposits held by local banks fell 2.17 percent to 301.792 billion yuan (US$43.75 billion) at the end of last month, the central bank said yesterday. That marked the second straight month of decline after deposits fell 2.23 percent to 308.48 billion yuan the previous month, as well as the lowest in four years, as the Chinese currency continued to weaken against the greenback amid concern over increasing US-China trade tensions. Yuan deposits at domestic banking units fell 1.93 percent to 267.521 billion yuan last month and those at offshore units fell 3.95 percent to 34.271 billion yuan, the central bank said.
STEELMAKERS
CSC’s profit slumps
China Steel Corp (CSC, 中鋼), Taiwan’s only integrated steelmaker, yesterday posted a pretax profit of NT$2.78 billion (US$90 million) for last month, down 3.88 percent from NT$2.89 billion a year earlier and 22.12 percent lower than the previous month’s NT$3.57 billion, due to falling prices and shipments. Consolidated sales were NT$34.53 billion, down 5.23 percent year-on-year, but up 16.89 percent month-on-month, the Kaohsiung-based company’s data showed. In the first 11 months of the year, pretax profit totaled NT$29.94 billion, up 49.7 percent from NT$20 billion in the same period last year, the company said.
CIRCUIT BOARDS
Flexium capex approved
Flexium Interconnect Inc (台郡), a Kaohsiung-based supplier of flexible printed circuit boards, yesterday said its board of directors had approved an NT$8 billion capital expenditure (capex) budget to meet a customer’s demand. Flexium said in a Taiwan Stock Exchange filing that the budget is to be used mainly to build new production capacity, adding that the company would adjust the budget subject to customer demand and the market situation. The company did not identify the customer in the filing, although it is one of the key suppliers for Apple Inc’s iPhones.
SEMICONDUCTORS
Win to end GDR program
Win Semiconductors Corp (穩懋), the world’s largest pure-play gallium arsenide foundry, yesterday said its board of directors had resolved to terminate the firm’s global depositary receipt (GDR) program to cut management costs. As of Saturday, the firm had no outstanding GDRs on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange, Win Semiconductors said in a regulatory filing. In the first three quarters of the year, the company reported cumulative sales of NT$13.1 billion and net income of NT$2.36 billion, or earnings per share of NT$5.59.
SHIPPERS
Wan Hai to buy containers
Container shipper Wan Hai Lines Ltd (萬海航運) yesterday said its board of auditors had agreed to purchase 32,000 twenty-foot-equivalent unit (TEU) dry containers to develop its business. The US$57.13 million deal is to be reviewed by the company’s board of directors. The announcement comes after the company last month announced that it was ordering 20 full-container vessels from Chinese and Japanese shipbuilders, reflecting the company’s positive outlook for the industry. On Nov. 12, Wan Hai said it would order 12 full-container vessels with 2,038 TEU from China Shipbuilding Trading Co (中國船舶工業貿易) and Guangzhou Wenchong Shipyard Co (廣州文沖船廠) for US$315.94 million, as well as another eight full-container vessels with 3,036 TEU from Japan Marine United Corp for ￥37.68 billion (US$332.7 million).
BYPASSING CHINA TARIFFS: In the first five months of this year, Foxconn sent US$4.4bn of iPhones to the US from India, compared with US$3.7bn in the whole of last year Nearly all the iPhones exported by Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) from India went to the US between March and last month, customs data showed, far above last year’s average of 50 percent and a clear sign of Apple Inc’s efforts to bypass high US tariffs imposed on China. The numbers, being reported by Reuters for the first time, show that Apple has realigned its India exports to almost exclusively serve the US market, when previously the devices were more widely distributed to nations including the Netherlands and the Czech Republic. During March to last month, Foxconn, known as Hon Hai Precision Industry
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and the University of Tokyo (UTokyo) yesterday announced the launch of the TSMC-UTokyo Lab to promote advanced semiconductor research, education and talent development. The lab is TSMC’s first laboratory collaboration with a university outside Taiwan, the company said in a statement. The lab would leverage “the extensive knowledge, experience, and creativity” of both institutions, the company said. It is located in the Asano Section of UTokyo’s Hongo, Tokyo, campus and would be managed by UTokyo faculty, guided by directors from UTokyo and TSMC, the company said. TSMC began working with UTokyo in 2019, resulting in 21 research projects,
Ashton Hall’s morning routine involves dunking his head in iced Saratoga Spring Water. For the company that sells the bottled water — Hall’s brand of choice for drinking, brushing his teeth and submerging himself — that is fantastic news. “We’re so thankful to this incredible fitness influencer called Ashton Hall,” Saratoga owner Primo Brands Corp’s CEO Robbert Rietbroek said on an earnings call after Hall’s morning routine video went viral. “He really helped put our brand on the map.” Primo Brands, which was not affiliated with Hall when he made his video, is among the increasing number of companies benefiting from influencer
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) yesterday expressed a downbeat view about the prospects of humanoid robots, given high manufacturing costs and a lack of target customers. Despite rising demand and high expectations for humanoid robots, high research-and-development costs and uncertain profitability remain major concerns, Lam told reporters following the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Taoyuan. “Since it seems a bit unworthy to use such high-cost robots to do household chores, I believe robots designed for specific purposes would be more valuable and present a better business opportunity,” Lam said Instead of investing in humanoid robots, Quanta has opted to invest
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