STOCK MARKETS
Shares fall 93.5 points
Taiwanese shares closed down yesterday as investors locked in early gains amid lingering concerns over tensions between Washington and Beijing. The bellwether electronics sector was the focus of the selling as investors moved away from a record closing on the tech-heavy NASDAQ in the US overnight, dealers said. However, rotational buying in some old-economy stocks helped prevent a steeper fall of the broader market, they said. The TAIEX closed down 93.5 points, or 0.73 percent, at the day’s low of 12,778.64. Turnover was NT$253.685 billion (US$8.6 billion). Foreign institutional investors sold a net NT$635 million of shares on the main board, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. The market is likely to see more volatility in the wake of high valuations, analysts said.
MANUFACTURING
Yeong Guan profit rises
Yeong Guan Energy Technology Group Co (永冠能源), which produces advanced casting components for specialized applications, yesterday reported net profit of NT$58.07 million for last month, or earnings per share of NT$0.55, up 541 percent year-on-year. Revenue grew 19 percent from a year earlier to NT$802 million, the company said. As wind power customers continue to maintain high orders, and demand for injection molding machines and industrial machinery remains stable, shipments this year are expected to be between 165,000 tonnes and 175,000 tonnes, Yeong Guan said, adding that shipments would grow further next year as other industries recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Renewable energy-related products would be the company’s major growth drivers in the next one to two years, it said.
SOFTWARE
IKala completes fundraising
IKala Interactive Media Inc (愛卡拉), which uses artificial intelligence (AI) to help e-commerce retailers gather and analyze customer data, yesterday said it has completed a US$17 million Series B fundraising program, bringing the total it has raised so far to US$30.3 million. The program is led by Wistron Digital Technology Holding Co (緯創數技投資控股), with investments from Hotung Investment Holdings Ltd (和通創投) and Pacific Venture Partners (怡和創投) among others. “With Wistron as a strategic partner, iKala can become a major driving force for transforming Taiwan into an AI industry and talent hub in Asia,” iKala board director Chien Lee-feng (簡立峰) said in a statement. The company plans to use the funds to improve its AI research capability and expand into new Southeast Asian markets, it said.
AIRLINES
Tigerair touts couples offer
Budget carrier Tigerair Taiwan Ltd (台灣虎航) is inviting people to celebrate Lovers’ Day with a half-day “flight experience.” Flight IT-2020 is to operate on Saturday and Tuesday next week, which is Lovers’ Day, allowing couples a nearly three-hour sightseeing trip that departs and lands at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Tigerair said on Monday. The tickets, which are sold in sets of two for NT$20,520, include lodging and dining services, as well as offers on other flights, it said. People who purchase the tickets are entitled to free Tigerair Taiwan round-trip tickets to any of its destinations within a year of border restrictions being lifted — if the couple is still together, the carrier said. If the couple has a child between now and when they redeem the flight, the child would fly free, it said.
Shares of contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) came under pressure yesterday after a report that Apple Inc is looking to shift some orders from the Taiwanese company to Intel Corp. TSMC shares fell NT$55, or 2.4 percent, to close at NT$2,235 on the local main board, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. Despite the losses, TSMC is expected to continue to benefit from sound fundamentals, as it maintains a lead over its peers in high-end process development, analysts said. “The selling was a knee-jerk reaction to an Intel-Apple report over the weekend,” Mega International Investment Services Corp (兆豐國際投顧) analyst Alex Huang
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to remain Apple Inc’s primary chip manufacturing partner despite reports that Apple could shift some orders to Intel Corp, industry experts said yesterday. The comments came after The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Apple and Intel had reached a preliminary agreement following more than a year of negotiations for Intel to manufacture some chips for Apple devices. Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (台灣經濟研究院) economist Arisa Liu (劉佩真) said TSMC’s advanced packaging technologies, including integrated fan-out and chip-on-wafer-on-substrate, remain critical to the performance of Apple’s A-series and M-series chips. She said Intel and Samsung
TRANSITION: With the closure, the company would reorganize its Taiwanese unit to a sales and service-focused model, Bridgestone said Bridgestone Corp yesterday announced it would cease manufacturing operations at its tire plant in Hsinchu County’s Hukou Township (湖口), affecting more than 500 workers. Bridgestone Taiwan Co (台灣普利司通) said in a statement that the decision was based on the Tokyo-based tire maker’s adjustments to its global operational strategy and long-term market development considerations. The Taiwanese unit would be reorganized as part of the closure, effective yesterday, and all related production activities would be concluded, the statement said. Under the plan, Bridgestone would continue to deepen its presence in the Taiwanese market, while transitioning to a sales and service-focused business model, it added. The Hsinchu
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has approved a capital budget of US$31.28 billion for production expansion to meet long-term development needs during the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. The company’s board meeting yesterday approved the capital appropriation plan for purposes such as the installation of advanced technology capacity and fab construction, the world’s largest contract chipmaker said in a statement. At an earnings conference last month, TSMC forecast that its capital expenditure for this year would be at the higher end of the US$52 billion to US$56 billion range it forecast in January in response to robust demand for 5G, AI and
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