Taiwan Ratings Corp (中華信評) has downgraded the credit outlook for Taipei Financial Center Corp (台北金融大樓) from “stable” to “negative,” as the operator of the Taipei 101 skyscraper has seen a slump in tourists and shoppers.
The local arm of S&P Global Ratings said the negative outlook reflects the likely deterioration in the company’s credit profile this year and uncertainty over a recovery.
A dire lack of foreign tourists would diminish revenue from its observatory and tourist spending at its shopping mall, the agency said.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
The number of foreign visitors dropped close to zero over the past few weeks due to border controls and flight bans to curb the spread of COVID-19.
“We expect international travel to remain muted for six more months, as the number of infections is still on the rise worldwide,” Taiwan Ratings said, expecting a modest recovery toward the end of the year.
That might affect the number of visitors to the observatory and the observation deck’s revenue this year by up to 80 percent, it said.
Local customers have also reduced shopping frequency to avoid infections, it added.
Retail sales at the Taipei 101 shopping center are forecast to drop by 31 to 35 percent given the store’s collection of luxury and fashion brands for which consumption is discretionary in nature, it said.
The office building’s rental income would not be affected by the pandemic, because rental rates are fixed and long-term in nature, it said.
In addition, the Taipei 101 building has built up a strong tenant portfolio, mostly high-profile global firms and large domestic companies that can afford above-average rents, it said.
However, office rent accounts for only 26 percent of overall operating income and would not be sufficient to compensate for the slowdown in other segments, it said.
This story has been modified since it was first published to avoid any inconvenience caused to Taipei Financial Center Corp.
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
RSS