RETAIL
Bossini to shut local stores
Bossini International Holdings Ltd (堡獅龍國際集團) has decided to wind down its local retail operation and close all 51 stores before July 31, due to slowing sales over the past two decades. The Hong Kong-based clothing chain operator has had losses in Taiwan since 2006 due to sluggish consumer demand and it is not optimistic about the market in the near term, a company regulatory filing with the Hong Kong stock exchange said. The company said that it would soon begin talks with local landlords to arrange early exit terms for the store leases. Bossini said that the closures are estimated to cost the company about HK$20 million (US$2.57 million), but it does not expect the move to significantly affect its overall business.
RETAIL
Mirada to close all stores
Mirada (美華泰), the local operator of a cosmetics and beauty products chain, is going out of business and plans to close its 15 stores across the nation, the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) reported yesterday. In a notice sent to suppliers, Mirada said that COVID-19 has caused business to wane, leading to unbearable losses and a decision to end operations, the newspaper reported. Mirada is considering closing the stores as their leases expire, with seven stores closing by the end of next month and the other eight stores closing by the end of June, it reported.
ELECTRONICS
Coretronic scraps plant sale
Coretronic Corp (中強光電), which makes backlight modules for flat panels, yesterday scrapped a plan to sell a plant in Hsinchu County to Nano Precision Taiwan Ltd (台灣揚昕) after facing opposition from the Ministry of the Interior. The company’s board of directors on Oct. 28 last year approved the sale of the plant in Hukou Township (湖口) to Nano, a wholly owned subsidiary, in an effort to improve its operational efficiency. However, the ministry yesterday rejected Nano’s application to acquire the plant, so the transaction has been canceled, Coretronic said.
REAL ESTATE
Taiwan Fertilizer sells plot
State-run Taiwan Fertilizer Co (台肥), which develops real estate and manufactures and sells fertilizers and chemical products, yesterday said that it sold a plot of land in Taipei’s Nangang District (南港) for NT$1.28 billion (US$42.54 million). Sale of the land — 869.385 ping (2,874m2) at NT$1.47 million per ping — is expected to generate pre-tax income of NT$959 million, a company press release said. The transaction is an effort to revitalize idle assets, Taiwan Fertilizer said, adding that the deal would contribute earnings per share of NT$0.97 for the company’s 980 million outstanding shares.
EQUITIES
TAIEX follows US rally
Taiwanese shares closed more than 1 percent higher yesterday, led by the bellwether electronics sector, after US markets rallied overnight on expectations of an interest rate cut by the US Federal Reserve. The TAIEX ended up 157.26 points, or 1.41 percent, at 11,327.72 on turnover of NT$161.624 billion. Despite the gain in share prices, foreign institutional investors sold a net NT$13.56 billion in shares, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. The New Taiwan dollar continued trading stronger against the US dollar, rising 0.12 percent to close at NT$30.087 in Taipei trading.
The Eurovision Song Contest has seen a surge in punter interest at the bookmakers, becoming a major betting event, experts said ahead of last night’s giant glamfest in Basel. “Eurovision has quietly become one of the biggest betting events of the year,” said Tomi Huttunen, senior manager of the Online Computer Finland (OCS) betting and casino platform. Betting sites have long been used to gauge which way voters might be leaning ahead of the world’s biggest televised live music event. However, bookmakers highlight a huge increase in engagement in recent years — and this year in particular. “We’ve already passed 2023’s total activity and
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) today announced that his company has selected "Beitou Shilin" in Taipei for its new Taiwan office, called Nvidia Constellation, putting an end to months of speculation. Industry sources have said that the tech giant has been eyeing the Beitou Shilin Science Park as the site of its new overseas headquarters, and speculated that the new headquarters would be built on two plots of land designated as "T17" and "T18," which span 3.89 hectares in the park. "I think it's time for us to reveal one of the largest products we've ever built," Huang said near the
China yesterday announced anti-dumping duties as high as 74.9 percent on imports of polyoxymethylene (POM) copolymers, a type of engineering plastic, from Taiwan, the US, the EU and Japan. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce’s findings conclude a probe launched in May last year, shortly after the US sharply increased tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, computer chips and other imports. POM copolymers can partially replace metals such as copper and zinc, and have various applications, including in auto parts, electronics and medical equipment, the Chinese ministry has said. In January, it said initial investigations had determined that dumping was taking place, and implemented preliminary
CUSTOMERS’ BURDEN: TSMC already has operations in the US and is a foundry, so any tariff increase would mostly affect US customers, not the company, the minister said Taiwanese manufacturers are “not afraid” of US tariffs, but are concerned about being affected more heavily than regional economic competitors Japan and South Korea, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said. “Taiwan has many advantages that other countries do not have, the most notable of which is its semiconductor ecosystem,” Kuo said. The US “must rely on Taiwan” to boost its microchip manufacturing capacities, Kuo said in an interview ahead of his one-year anniversary in office tomorrow. Taiwan has submitted a position paper under Section 232 of the US Trade Expansion Act to explain the “complementary relationship” between Taiwan and the US
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