Uni-President Enterprises Corp (統一企業), the nation’s largest food and beverage conglomerate, views Asian markets as the major driving force for growth.
“As Taiwan’s population structure changes and its market becomes more saturated, Uni-President plans to focus on overseas markets to maintain growth,” local media quoted chairman Alex Lo (羅智先) as saying yesterday at the company’s annual general meeting in Tainan.
Expanding and connecting Asian markets is the company’s major goal for the next 50 years, Lo said.
Uni-President was established in 1967.
Asian economies would “undergo massive changes” due to regional trade agreements, such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, a Uni-President public relations official told the Taipei Times by telephone.
To strengthen its business in northeastern Asia, Uni-President purchased a 74.74 percent stake in South Korea’s Woongjin Foods Co in December last year, which gained regulatory approval in March.
“The company plans to utilize Woongjin’s brand name and existing sales channels, and aims to provide customers with better and new shopping experiences,” the official quoted Lo as saying.
Uni-President expects the deal to contribute to its sales this year as South Korean products become more popular in Asian markets.
The company is also seeking to merge or form alliances with other Asian companies to launch new products and help grow its business, but it needs to overcome cultural differences in different markets, local media reported.
Separately, drugstore chain Cosmed (康是美), a subsidiary of Uni-President, plans to rejuvenate its corporate image and adjust its product lineup, the official quoted Cosmed chairwoman Shirley Kao (高秀玲) as saying.
Uni-President posted a 3.27 percent year-on-year increase in revenue to NT$183.41 billion (US$5.82 billion) in the first five months.
Shareholders yesterday approved the company’s plan to distribute a cash dividend of NT$2.5, implying a payout ratio of 81.43 percent based on last year’s earnings per share of NT$3.07.
That was a dividend yield of 3.11 percent based on the stock’s closing price of NT$80.4 in Taipei trading yesterday.
PROTECTIONISM: China hopes to help domestic chipmakers gain more market share while preparing local tech companies for the possibility of more US sanctions Beijing is stepping up pressure on Chinese companies to buy locally produced artificial intelligence (AI) chips instead of Nvidia Corp products, part of the nation’s effort to expand its semiconductor industry and counter US sanctions. Chinese regulators have been discouraging companies from purchasing Nvidia’s H20 chips, which are used to develop and run AI models, sources familiar with the matter said. The policy has taken the form of guidance rather than an outright ban, as Beijing wants to avoid handicapping its own AI start-ups and escalating tensions with the US, said the sources, who asked not to be identified because the
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
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
Her white-gloved, waistcoated uniform impeccable, 22-year-old Hazuki Okuno boards a bullet train replica to rehearse the strict protocols behind the smooth operation of a Japanese institution turning 60 Tuesday. High-speed Shinkansen trains began running between Tokyo and Osaka on Oct. 1, 1964, heralding a new era for rail travel as Japan grew into an economic superpower after World War II. The service remains integral to the nation’s economy and way of life — so keeping it dazzlingly clean, punctual and accident-free is a serious job. At a 10-story, state-of-the-art staff training center, Okuno shouted from the window and signaled to imaginary colleagues, keeping
RSS