Taipei Financial Center Corp (TFCC, 台北金融大樓), which operates Taipei 101 — including its shopping mall, observatory deck and office space — aims to increase revenue to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels this year after taking a hard hit from the crisis last year, it said on Thursday.
TFCC president Angela Chang (張振亞) announced the goal at a news conference, when the firm unveiled a 42 percent slump in net income to NT$1.27 billion (US$44.4 million) for last year.
The results translated into earnings per share of NT$0.87, below NT$1 for the first time in seven years, as foreign tourist arrivals virtually stopped amid COVID-19 border controls.
Photo: Chuang Shih-hsien, Taipei Times
Although the unfavorable effects of the pandemic linger, Taipei 101 is to strengthen its shopping mall operation and maintain full occupancy for its office space in the city’s central business district, where leasing demand is strong with no new space available in the near term, Chang said.
The observatory deck previously generated 30 percent of overall revenue, but made a meager contribution last year, she said.
TFCC has set a goal of growing the shopping mall’s operation by 10 percent this year, helped by a continued economic recovery, and collaborations with domestic and foreign luxury brands to bolster high-end consumption.
The mall hosted more than 200 shows and exhibitions last year to consolidate its leadership position in sales of luxury watches, jewelry and other items, raising revenue 30 percent and mitigating the effects of the pandemic to single-digit percentage points, TFCC said.
A 10 percent increase is viable given that spending by 300,000 members soared 55 percent last year, with one-third of them being active shoppers, the company said.
The skyscraper’s operator is to spend NT$1.5 billion renovating the complex’s exterior, as well as its shopping area and parking spaces to make them more welcoming, TFCC said.
Taipei 101 has been able to raise rents, with upward adjustments reaching 45 percent in some cases, thanks to its landmark status, TFCC said.
Taiwanese suppliers to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC, 台積電) are expected to follow the contract chipmaker’s step to invest in the US, but their relocation may be seven to eight years away, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. When asked by opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Niu Hsu-ting (牛煦庭) in the legislature about growing concerns that TSMC’s huge investments in the US will prompt its suppliers to follow suit, Kuo said based on the chipmaker’s current limited production volume, it is unlikely to lead its supply chain to go there for now. “Unless TSMC completes its planned six
Intel Corp has named Tasha Chuang (莊蓓瑜) to lead Intel Taiwan in a bid to reinforce relations between the company and its Taiwanese partners. The appointment of Chuang as general manager for Intel Taiwan takes effect on Thursday, the firm said in a statement yesterday. Chuang is to lead her team in Taiwan to pursue product development and sales growth in an effort to reinforce the company’s ties with its partners and clients, Intel said. Chuang was previously in charge of managing Intel’s ties with leading Taiwanese PC brand Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), which included helping Asustek strengthen its global businesses, the company
Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said second-quarter revenue is expected to surpass the first quarter, which rose 30 percent year-on-year to NT$118.92 billion (US$3.71 billion). Revenue this quarter is likely to grow, as US clients have front-loaded orders ahead of US President Donald Trump’s planned tariffs on Taiwanese goods, Delta chairman Ping Cheng (鄭平) said at an earnings conference in Taipei, referring to the 90-day pause in tariff implementation Trump announced on April 9. While situations in the third and fourth quarters remain unclear, “We will not halt our long-term deployments and do not plan to
The New Taiwan dollar and Taiwanese stocks surged on signs that trade tensions between the world’s top two economies might start easing and as US tech earnings boosted the outlook of the nation’s semiconductor exports. The NT dollar strengthened as much as 3.8 percent versus the US dollar to 30.815, the biggest intraday gain since January 2011, closing at NT$31.064. The benchmark TAIEX jumped 2.73 percent to outperform the region’s equity gauges. Outlook for global trade improved after China said it is assessing possible trade talks with the US, providing a boost for the nation’s currency and shares. As the NT dollar
RSS