EQUITIES
TAIEX closes at record
The TAIEX moved sharply higher yesterday as the bellwether electronics sector steamed ahead, helping the index overcome technical hurdles to breach 13,700 points. Contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) led the upturn on continued optimism toward its fundamentals, dealers said. Other tech stocks in the supply chain of China’s Huawei Technologies Inc (華為) also attracted buying after the news that Huawei would dispose of its Honor (榮耀) smartphone brand to skirt sanctions imposed by the US, they said. The TAIEX ended up 180.28 points, or 1.33 percent, at an all-time closing high of 13,773.29. Turnover was NT$229.678 billion (US$7.99 billion), with foreign institutional investors buying a net NT$21.14 billion of shares, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
CHEMICALS
TPCC trading to be halted
Trading of Taiwan Prosperity Chemical Corp (TPCC, 信昌化工) shares are to be suspended from Jan. 12 as the company plans to go private and become a 100 percent owned subsidiary under Taiwan Cement Corp (台灣水泥), the Taiwan Stock Exchange said yesterday. TPCC shares would be delisted from the main board on Jan. 18, the exchange said. TPCC on Tuesday reported that it turned profitable last quarter, following six consecutive quarters of losses. Net income was NT$2.95 million, compared with a net loss of NT$527.05 million a year earlier. In the first three quarters of this year, the company suffered a net loss of NT$728.4 million, compared with a net loss of NT$774.58 million in the same period last year.
E-COMMERCE
Two firms face trade freeze
Trading in the shares of Kuobrothers Corp (創業家兄弟), an e-commerce operator, and Mobix Corp (松果購物), an e-commerce platform invested by Kuobrothers, would be halted from today on the nation’s over-the-counter market pending the release of material information by the companies, the Taipei Exchange announced yesterday. The exchange did not disclose further details, saying only that the companies would apply for trading to resume after the information is released.
AVIATION
EGAT may cut capitalization
Evergreen Aviation Technologies Corp’s (EGAT, 長榮航太) board of directors have agreed to cut the firm’s capitalization by NT$3 billion, or 45.96 percent, in an effort to improve shareholder returns. After the capital reduction, its paid-in capital would be NT$3.54 billion, the firm said in a regulatory filing, adding that the proposal is subject to shareholders’ approval at an extraordinary meeting scheduled for Dec. 4. EGAT is 79 percent owned by EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) and the reduction scheme is expected to return NT$2.38 billion, or earnings per share of NT$0.49, to EVA.
TRADE
RCEP meeting planned
Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美花) on Tuesday said that her ministry would be holding a meeting with representatives from the local steel, petrochemicals, automotive, textile and plastics industries on Sunday about the possible effects of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). The trade deal was signed by 15 APEC countries on Sunday. “This is just the initial action so we can exchange thoughts with the most affected industries,” Wang said, adding that the Industrial Development Bureau would arrange meetings with other industries likely to be affected by the deal.
On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump weighed in on a pressing national issue: The rebranding of a restaurant chain. Last week, Cracker Barrel, a Tennessee company whose nationwide locations lean heavily on a cozy, old-timey aesthetic — “rocking chairs on the porch, a warm fire in the hearth, peg games on the table” — announced it was updating its logo. Uncle Herschel, the man who once appeared next to the letters with a barrel, was gone. It sparked ire on the right, with Donald Trump Jr leading a charge against the rebranding: “WTF is wrong with Cracker Barrel?!” Later, Trump Sr weighed
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) secured a record 70.2 percent share of the global foundry business in the second quarter, up from 67.6 percent the previous quarter, and continued widening its lead over second-placed Samsung Electronics Co, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said on Monday. TSMC posted US$30.24 billion in sales in the April-to-June period, up 18.5 percent from the previous quarter, driven by major smartphone customers entering their ramp-up cycle and robust demand for artificial intelligence chips, laptops and PCs, which boosted wafer shipments and average selling prices, TrendForce said in a report. Samsung’s sales also grew in the second quarter, up
HEADWINDS: Upfront investment is unavoidable in the merger, but cost savings would materialize over time, TS Financial Holding Co president Welch Lin said TS Financial Holding Co (台新新光金控) said it would take about two years before the benefits of its merger with Shin Kong Financial Holding Co (新光金控) become evident, as the group prioritizes the consolidation of its major subsidiaries. “The group’s priority is to complete the consolidation of different subsidiaries,” Welch Lin (林維俊), president of the nation’s fourth-largest financial conglomerate by assets, told reporters during its first earnings briefing since the merger took effect on July 24. The asset management units are scheduled to merge in November, followed by life insurance in January next year and securities operations in April, Lin said. Banking integration,
LOOPHOLES: The move is to end a break that was aiding foreign producers without any similar benefit for US manufacturers, the US Department of Commerce said US President Donald Trump’s administration would make it harder for Samsung Electronics Co and SK Hynix Inc to ship critical equipment to their chipmaking operations in China, dealing a potential blow to the companies’ production in the world’s largest semiconductor market. The US Department of Commerce in a notice published on Friday said that it was revoking waivers for Samsung and SK Hynix to use US technologies in their Chinese operations. The companies had been operating in China under regulations that allow them to import chipmaking equipment without applying for a new license each time. The move would revise what is known
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