TOURISM
Lion Travel suspends tours
Lion Travel Service Co Ltd (雄獅旅行社) yesterday said that it would cancel all outbound tours until April 30 as the government prioritizes efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19. “As of April 30, the consolidated revenue impact is estimated to be about NT$5.3 billion [US$175.1 million],” the company said in a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange. Lion Travel, whose shares have dropped 39.76 percent this year, reported that revenue in the first two months fell 10.44 percent year-on-year to NT$4.07 billion.
CASINGS
Catcher buyback starts
Catcher Technology Co (可成科技) yesterday started a share buyback program in a bid to stop a decline in its stock price. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rattle markets, Catcher’s share price has fallen 21.95 percent over the past month to close at NT$192 yesterday. The supplier of metal casings for Apple Inc iPhones is planning to purchase up to 25 million common shares, or 3.25 percent of its total issued shares, at a price range of between NT$132 and NT$354.2 until May 17. The company would continue the buyback program beyond May 17 if prices fall below the range, Catcher added.
SEMICONDUCTORS
Foundry announces dividend
Win Semiconductors Corp (穩懋半導體), the world’s largest pure-play gallium arsenide foundry, yesterday announced that it has proposed distributing a cash dividend of NT$7 per common share based on record-high earnings per share of NT$10.59 last year, representing a payout ratio of 66.1 percent. The proposed dividend implies a dividend yield of 3.23 percent on the stock’s closing price of NT$217 yesterday. Win Semiconductors shares have fallen 25.5 percent since the beginning of this year amid the COVID-19 pandemic, although the company’s revenue in the first two months rose 68.64 percent year-on-year to NT$3.98 billion from NT$2.36 billion.
ELECTRONICS
Hon Hai plants to reopen
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday in an internal letter to its employees said that it has received the green light from the authorities in Wuhan, China, to reopen its factories there. The company said it has begun preparatory work to reopen its factories in phases. Workers who are to resume their jobs in Wuhan need to submit applications first, and they would be placed in quarantine before being sent to production lines, the letter said. Hon Hai earlier resumed operations at its other major factories in China, such as in Shenzhen in Guangdong Province and Zhengzhou in Henan Province.
BROKERAGES
Securities incomes soar
The nation’s securities firms reported total net income of NT$2.276 billion for last month, up 111.92 percent from the previous month, as higher turnover boosted brokerage fee income, the Taiwan Stock Exchange said in a news release. However, accumulated net income of all securities firms in the first two months fell 45 percent year-on-year to NT$3.35 billion, as the market reversed last year’s upward momentum, the stock exchange said. This led to a 134.44 percent decline in net income from dealers’ trading and a 130.29 percent decline in net underwriting income from a year earlier, it said.
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: The US company could switch orders from TSMC to alternative suppliers, but that would lower chip quality, CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), whose products have become the hottest commodity in the technology world, on Wednesday said that the scramble for a limited amount of supply has frustrated some customers and raised tensions. “The demand on it is so great, and everyone wants to be first and everyone wants to be most,” he told the audience at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc technology conference in San Francisco. “We probably have more emotional customers today. Deservedly so. It’s tense. We’re trying to do the best we can.” Huang’s company is experiencing strong demand for its latest generation of chips, called
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure
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