Taiwan Paiho Ltd (台灣百和) yesterday said its new factory in Vietnam would start mass production next month, which is expected to raise its Vietnamese output by 20 percent later this year.
“Production lines at our factory in the Le Minh Xuan 3 Industrial Park recently started pilot runs and are to begin mass production next month to meet growing demand in the region,” a Paiho public relations official, who declined to be named, said by telephone.
“We expect the second half of the year to outpace the first half as the Tokyo Olympics draw near, and orders for shoelaces are likely to grow as our clients release new shoe designs,” she said.
In the first half of the year, net profit attributable to the parent company, which makes shoelaces, touch fasteners and elastics for shoes and clothes, climbed 16.81 percent year-on-year to NT$798.26 million (US$25.72 million), Paiho reported last week.
Earnings per share increased from NT$2.29 a year earlier to NT$2.68, but gross margin decreased 2.13 percentage points to 35.1 percent due to low utilization rates for four-way elastics products, it said.
Revenue rose 34.27 percent to NT$7.91 billion, but would have only increased 12.7 percent if real-estate sales were omitted, it said.
“The increase in sales and profits are due to contribution from our top 10 clients, which climbed 5 percentage points to 63 percent in the first half of the year,” the official said.
The company’s major customers include Adidas AG, Nike Inc, Under Armour Inc, New Balance Athletic Shoe Inc, Reebok International Ltd and Puma AG, analysts said.
Paiho has factories in Taiwan, Vietnam, Indonesia and Dongguan, Wuxi and Jiading in China.
The Indonesian operations turned profitable in January, the company said.
Shoelaces accounted for 54 percent of total sales in the first six months, touch fasteners made up 15.9 percent, elastics contributed 13 percent and molded hooks came in at 9 percent, it said.
The official said new four-way stretchable elastic and woven jacquard fabric products have higher average selling prices and a good margin outlook, although they only accounted for 2 percent of total sales in the first half of the year.
Paiho has been expanding its customer base by reaching out to the aviation and virtual reality sectors, she said.
The company also expects several real-estate development projects and the sale of some parking lots to contribute to sales later this year or in the second quarter of next year, she added.
Paiho shares yesterday closed up 4.11 percent at NT$96.3 in Taipei trading. They have skyrocketed 95.33 percent so far this year.
SEEKING CLARITY: Washington should not adopt measures that create uncertainties for ‘existing semiconductor investments,’ TSMC said referring to its US$165 billion in the US Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) told the US that any future tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors could reduce demand for chips and derail its pledge to increase its investment in Arizona. “New import restrictions could jeopardize current US leadership in the competitive technology industry and create uncertainties for many committed semiconductor capital projects in the US, including TSMC Arizona’s significant investment plan in Phoenix,” the chipmaker wrote in a letter to the US Department of Commerce. TSMC issued the warning in response to a solicitation for comments by the department on a possible tariff on semiconductor imports by US President Donald Trump’s
The government has launched a three-pronged strategy to attract local and international talent, aiming to position Taiwan as a new global hub following Nvidia Corp’s announcement that it has chosen Taipei as the site of its Taiwan headquarters. Nvidia cofounder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Monday last week announced during his keynote speech at the Computex trade show in Taipei that the Nvidia Constellation, the company’s planned Taiwan headquarters, would be located in the Beitou-Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區) in Taipei. Huang’s decision to establish a base in Taiwan is “primarily due to Taiwan’s talent pool and its strength in the semiconductor
Industrial production expanded 22.31 percent annually last month to 107.51, as increases in demand for high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI) applications drove demand for locally-made chips and components. The manufacturing production index climbed 23.68 percent year-on-year to 108.37, marking the 14th consecutive month of increase, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said. In the first four months of this year, industrial and manufacturing production indices expanded 14.31 percent and 15.22 percent year-on-year, ministry data showed. The growth momentum is to extend into this month, with the manufacturing production index expected to rise between 11 percent and 15.1 percent annually, Department of Statistics
An earnings report from semiconductor giant and artificial intelligence (AI) bellwether Nvidia Corp takes center stage for Wall Street this week, as stocks hit a speed bump of worries over US federal deficits driving up Treasury yields. US equities pulled back last week after a torrid rally, as investors turned their attention to tax and spending legislation poised to swell the US government’s US$36 trillion in debt. Long-dated US Treasury yields rose amid the fiscal worries, with the 30-year yield topping 5 percent and hitting its highest level since late 2023. Stocks were dealt another blow on Friday when US President Donald