APPAREL
Makalot revenue falls 18.4%
Makalot Industrial Co (聚陽) yesterday reported consolidated revenue of NT$1.69 billion (US$56.26 million) for last month, down 18.4 percent from a year earlier and 19.1 percent from January. The figure is the lowest in 15 months, underlining the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak in China on the company’s business, even though most of its production sites are in Vietnam and Indonesia. Combined revenue in the first two months of this year reached NT$3.79 billion, down 10.3 percent year-on-year, a company regulatory filing said.
SHIPPING
Wisdom hit by NT$64m loss
Wisdom Marine Group (慧洋海運集團), the nation’s largest dry bulk shipper, yesterday reported a pretax loss of NT$64.28 million for last month — its first loss in three years — or losses per share of NT$0.09. Wisdom attributed the performance to a downturn in the dry bulk market amid the COVID-19 outbreak. Consolidated sales last month fell 19.8 percent year-on-year to NT$844.53 million, it said. In the first two months of this year, the company posted a pretax loss of NT$30.37 million, or losses per share of NT$0.04, while revenue fell 17.2 percent to NT$1.85 billion.
HEALTHCARE
TCI EPS hits NT$17.02
TCI Co Ltd (大江生醫) yesterday reported earnings per share (EPS) of NT$17.02 for last year, up from NT$15.48 in 2018, despite a modest consolidation in China’s dietary supplement, functional food and skincare market in the second half of last year. TCI’s net income last year increased 12.33 percent to NT$2.02 billion, while consolidated revenue increased 18.12 percent to NT$9.57 billion, a company regulatory filing said. China accounted for more than 80 percent of TCI’s revenue last year, company data showed.
CONSTRUCTION
Highwealth adds land stock
Highwealth Construction Corp (興富發) on Tuesday said it bought a 1,852 ping (6,122.32m2) plot of land in Taichung for NT$4.36 billion, after acquiring a 2,593 ping plot for NT$8.38 billion last month, despite uncertainty from the COVID-19 outbreak. The Taipei-based developer aims to build a NT$12 billion mixed-use commercial complex on the new plot. Last year, Highwealth, which spent NT$20.52 billion on land, topped its local peers in building up land stock in Taiwan, industry data showed.
ELECTRONICS
Sinbon sales rise 10.65%
Sinbon Electronics Co (信邦電子), which produces cables, connectors and modems, on Tuesday reported consolidated sales of NT$1.34 billion for last month, up 10.65 percent year-on-year, but down 14.16 percent month-on-month. Combined sales in the first two months of this year reached NT$2.89 billion, up 14.04 percent last year. As about 70 percent of the company’s production capacity is in China, the COVID-19 outbreak has disrupted its production there, with only about 60 to 70 percent of its workers returning to production lines so far, Sinbon said.
BATTERIES
Simplo sales decline
Battery maker Simplo Technology Co (新普科技) reported revenue of NT$3.82 billion for last month, down 20.2 percent from January and 3.5 percent from last year, due to the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak. In the first two months of this year, Simplo’s cumulative revenue reached NT$8.61 billion, down 7 percent from last year. Simplo said it expects revenue growth momentum to return this month.
To many, Tatu City on the outskirts of Nairobi looks like a success. The first city entirely built by a private company to be operational in east Africa, with about 25,000 people living and working there, it accounts for about two-thirds of all foreign investment in Kenya. Its low-tax status has attracted more than 100 businesses including Heineken, coffee brand Dormans, and the biggest call-center and cold-chain transport firms in the region. However, to some local politicians, Tatu City has looked more like a target for extortion. A parade of governors have demanded land worth millions of dollars in exchange
An Indonesian animated movie is smashing regional box office records and could be set for wider success as it prepares to open beyond the Southeast Asian archipelago’s silver screens. Jumbo — a film based on the adventures of main character, Don, a large orphaned Indonesian boy facing bullying at school — last month became the highest-grossing Southeast Asian animated film, raking in more than US$8 million. Released at the end of March to coincide with the Eid holidays after the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, the movie has hit 8 million ticket sales, the third-highest in Indonesian cinema history, Film
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) revenue jumped 48 percent last month, underscoring how electronics firms scrambled to acquire essential components before global tariffs took effect. The main chipmaker for Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp reported monthly sales of NT$349.6 billion (US$11.6 billion). That compares with the average analysts’ estimate for a 38 percent rise in second-quarter revenue. US President Donald Trump’s trade war is prompting economists to retool GDP forecasts worldwide, casting doubt over the outlook for everything from iPhone demand to computing and datacenter construction. However, TSMC — a barometer for global tech spending given its central role in the
Alchip Technologies Ltd (世芯), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) designer specializing in server chips, expects revenue to decline this year due to sagging demand for 5-nanometer artificial intelligence (AI) chips from a North America-based major customer, a company executive said yesterday. That would be the first contraction in revenue for Alchip as it has been enjoying strong revenue growth over the past few years, benefiting from cloud-service providers’ moves to reduce dependence on Nvidia Corp’s expensive AI chips by building their own AI accelerator by outsourcing chip design. The 5-nanometer chip was supposed to be a new growth engine as the lifecycle
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