AUTOMOTIVE
Pan German profit soars
Pan German Universal Motors Ltd (汎德永業汽車), which distributes BMW, Porsche and Mini vehicles in Taiwan, yesterday reported net profit of NT$1.07 billion (US$37.89 million) for last year, up 46.4 percent from a year earlier, with earnings per share of NT$14.5, the highest in four years. The company’s board of directors has proposed a plan to distribute a cash dividend of NT$11 per share, Pan German said in a statement. The company’s consolidated revenue last year expanded 17.2 percent year-on-year to NT$39.56 billion, with gross margin improving to 11.2 percent, it said. Pan German said it expects sales momentum to remain strong this year.
APPLIANCES
Airmate aims to turn profit
Home appliance maker Airmate International Co (艾美特) aims to turn a profit during the off-season this year by adjusting its product mix and selling more goods to the US, Eastern Europe and Saudi Arabia through e-commerce platforms, it said yesterday. The company’s revenue fell 9.22 percent year-on-year to NT$9.21 billion last year, due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Net profit fell 37.98 percent to NT$156.24 million and earnings per share decreased to NT$1.12, it said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange. The company’s board has proposed to distribute a cash dividend of NT$0.6 per share and a stock dividend of NT$0.4 per share. The company today begins a share buyback program, which would run until May 15, with an aim to repurchase 1 million of its shares at NT$20 to NT$30 per share.
PHARMACEUTICALS
Senhwa drug to enter trials
Senhwa Biosciences Inc’s (生華生物科技) drug for treating severe COVID-19 infection has received positive reviews from an independent monitoring group in the US, it said on Sunday, adding that it can start clinical trials. The oral drug Silmitasertib (CX-4945) is in its phase-2 trial at Banner - University Medical Center in Phoenix, Arizona, the company said in a statement. It can proceed to the recruitment of patients for the treatment of severe COVID-19, it added. Senhwa Biosciences said it plans to complete clinical trials of the drug by the second quarter of this year.
LOGISTICS
Dimerco posts revenue surge
Dimerco Express Group (中菲行), which offers global freight-forwarding and logistics services, reported that revenue in the first two months of this year totaled NT$4.57 billion, up 83.4 percent from a year earlier. The company attributed the increase to rising freight rates for air cargo and sea shipping amid strong market demand. Air cargo forwarding and logistics services accounted for 51.5 percent of Dimerco’s overall revenue, while sea shipping services made up 44 percent, the company said last week. The remaining 4.5 percent came from its contract logistics service, it said.
INVESTMENT
Fund inflows end
The nation reported a net fund outflow of US$27 million by foreign investors last month, ending four consecutive months of inflows, data released on March 5 by the Financial Supervisor Commission showed. The reversal came as foreign investors sold a net NT$80 billion of shares on the Taiwan Stock Exchange and a net NT$9.1 billion of shares on the Taipei Exchange, the commission’s data showed. In the first two months of this year, Taiwan registered a net fund inflow of US$4.88 billion by foreign investors, the data showed.
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday signed a letter of intent with Alaska Gasline Development Corp (AGDC), expressing an interest to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) and invest in the latter’s Alaska LNG project, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement. Under the agreement, CPC is to participate in the project’s upstream gas investment to secure stable energy resources for Taiwan, the ministry said. The Alaska LNG project is jointly promoted by AGDC and major developer Glenfarne Group LLC, as Alaska plans to export up to 20 million tonnes of LNG annually from 2031. It involves constructing an 1,290km
NEXT GENERATION: The company also showcased automated machines, including a nursing robot called Nurabot, which is to enter service at a Taichung hospital this year Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) expects server revenue to exceed its iPhone revenue within two years, with the possibility of achieving this goal as early as this year, chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) said on Tuesday at Nvidia Corp’s annual technology conference in San Jose, California. AI would be the primary focus this year for the company, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), as rapidly advancing AI applications are driving up demand for AI servers, Liu said. The production and shipment of Nvidia’s GB200 chips and the anticipated launch of GB300 chips in the second half of the year would propel
‘MAKE OR BREAK’: Nvidia shares remain down more than 9 percent, but investors are hoping CEO Jensen Huang’s speech can stave off fears that the sales boom is peaking Shares in Nvidia Corp’s Taiwanese suppliers mostly closed higher yesterday on hopes that the US artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer would showcase next-generation technologies at its annual AI conference slated to open later in the day. The GPU Technology Conference (GTC) in California is to feature developers, engineers, researchers, inventors and information technology professionals, and would focus on AI, computer graphics, data science, machine learning and autonomous machines. The event comes at a make-or-break moment for the firm, as it heads into the next few quarters, with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s (黃仁勳) keynote speech today seen as having the ability to
WAIT-AND-SEE: Last month’s consumer price index came in at 2.8%, which boosts expectations that the Fed would proceed cautiously to lower inflation sustainably The US Federal Reserve is widely expected to keep interest rates unchanged at its policy meeting this week, treading carefully amid uncertainty over US President Donald Trump’s economic policies, which include spending cuts and sweeping tariffs. Since January, Trump has imposed levies on major trading partners Canada, Mexico and China, and on steel and aluminum imports, roiling financial markets and fanning fears that his plans could tip the world’s biggest economy into a recession. The Trump administration has also embarked on unprecedented cost-cutting efforts that target staff and spending, while the US president has promised tax reductions and deregulation down the road. However,
RSS