APPAREL
Roo Hsing probe hits shares
Shares of denim jeans maker Roo Hsing Co Ltd (如興) yesterday fell by the daily maximum to NT$13.25 after investigators searched the company’s offices on Friday last week over its US$388 million acquisition of Chinese apparel maker JD United Holdings Co (玖地集團) in 2017. Roo Hsing chairman Chen Shih-hsiu (陳仕修) was questioned by prosecutors on Friday over NT$1.4 billion (US$45.01 million) the firm accepted from the National Development Fund to make the acquisition, when allegedly JD United is taking control of Roo Hsing, which would be a breach of the Securities and Exchange Act (證交法). Chen was released on NT$5 million bail on Saturday. Roo Hsing said that the investigation would not affect its business.
CHIPMAKERS
ASE unit wins award
Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc (日月光半導體), a unit of ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投資控股), yesterday said that US chip designer Analog Devices Inc (ADI) named it one of its top suppliers. The chip packaging and testing service provider said it received a top award at ADI’s inaugural suppliers’ day on Friday last week. ADI named Advanced Semiconductor Engineering its top contract manufacturer in the back-end category, joining 18 other award winners. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) was named its top contract manufacturer in the front-end category, ADI said.
STEEL
CSC income falls 41%
China Steel Corp (CSC, 中鋼) yesterday reported that its operating income dropped by 41 percent to NT$1.06 billion last month on a monthly basis, while net profit declined 14 percent to NT$1.47 billion. China Steel sold 805.204 tonnes of carbon steel last month, with domestic sales contributing 68 percent. Revenue fell 9 percent to NT$29.35 billion, it said. In the first six months, operating income and net profit declined 29 percent and 24 percent respectively to NT$10.56 billion and NT$10.53 billion. Cumulative revenue in the period was NT$191.11 billion, down 1 percent from NT$193.71 billion a year earlier, it said.
REAL ESTATE
Sinyi Q2 profit surges
Sinyi Realty Inc (信義房屋), the nation’s only publicly listed real-estate broker, yesterday said its second-quarter net profit reached NT$405.97 million, or earnings per share (EPS) of NT$0.55. Net profit in the same period last year was NT$255.91 million, or EPS of NT$0.37, company data showed. Sinyi’s revenue rose 46.75 percent from a year earlier to NT$3.32 billion. The company’s net profit in the first half of the year was NT$827.46 million, an annual increase of 77.55 percent, or EPS of NT$1.12, the company said.
ELECTRIC VEHICLES
Mobiletron announces sales
Mobiletron Electronics Co (車王電子), which manufactures battery management systems for vehicles, yesterday said it sold 11 electric buses to South Taiwan Bus Co (南台灣客運) in the first half of the year and would deliver three more this year. The company sold 12 units last year. A company official told the Taipei Times that Mobiletron is confident it would win contracts for government-run electric bus projects this year once new subsidy plans are announced next month. The company plans to start construction of a new plant at the Port of Taichung Export Processing Zone next month, with a trial run scheduled in the fourth quarter next year and mass production expected in early 2021, it said.
Anna Bhobho, a 31-year-old housewife from rural Zimbabwe, was once a silent observer in her home, excluded from financial and family decisionmaking in the deeply patriarchal society. Today, she is a driver of change in her village, thanks to an electric tricycle she owns. In many parts of rural sub-Saharan Africa, women have long been excluded from mainstream economic activities such as operating public transportation. However, three-wheelers powered by green energy are reversing that trend, offering financial opportunities and a newfound sense of importance. “My husband now looks up to me to take care of a large chunk of expenses,
SECTOR LEADER: TSMC can increase capacity by as much as 20 percent or more in the advanced node part of the foundry market by 2030, an analyst said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to lead its peers in the advanced 2-nanometer process technology, despite competition from Samsung Electronics Co and Intel Corp, TrendForce Corp analyst Joanne Chiao (喬安) said. TSMC’s sophisticated products and its large production scale are expected to allow the company to continue dominating the global 2-nanometer process market this year, Chiao said. The world’s largest contract chipmaker is scheduled to begin mass production of chips made on the 2-nanometer process in its Hsinchu fab in the second half of this year. It would also hold a ceremony on Monday next week to
TECH CLUSTER: The US company’s new office is in the Shalun Smart Green Energy Science City, a new AI industry base and cybersecurity hub in southern Taiwan US chip designer Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) yesterday launched an office in Tainan’s Gueiren District (歸仁), marking a significant milestone in the development of southern Taiwan’s artificial intelligence (AI) industry, the Tainan City Government said in a statement. AMD Taiwan general manager Vincent Chern (陳民皓) presided over the opening ceremony for the company’s new office at the Shalun Smart Green Energy Science City (沙崙智慧綠能科學城), a new AI industry base and cybersecurity hub in southern Taiwan. Facilities in the new office include an information processing center, and a research and development (R&D) center, the Tainan Economic Development Bureau said. The Ministry
ADVERSARIES: The new list includes 11 entities in China and one in Taiwan, which is a local branch of Chinese cloud computing firm Inspur Group The US added dozens of entities to a trade blacklist on Tuesday, the US Department of Commerce said, in part to disrupt Beijing’s artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced computing capabilities. The action affects 80 entities from countries including China, the United Arab Emirates and Iran, with the commerce department citing their “activities contrary to US national security and foreign policy.” Those added to the “entity list” are restricted from obtaining US items and technologies without government authorization. “We will not allow adversaries to exploit American technology to bolster their own militaries and threaten American lives,” US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said. The entities
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