EQUITIES
TAIEX jumps 170.09 points
The TAIEX yesterday rose sharply by about 170 points, as the bellwether electronics sector continued to gain momentum on the back of a rally by US tech stocks at the end of last week. Contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) drove the broader market, while downstream tech stocks, flat-panel makers and some large-cap old-economy stocks also attracted buying interest, dealers said. The TAIEX ended up 170.09 points, or 1.04 percent, at 16,475.97, on turnover of NT$323.26 billion (US$11.32 billion). Foreign institutional investors bought a net NT$8.74 billion of shares on the main board, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
EQUITIES
Foreigners sell TSMC, CAL
Foreign investors last week sold a net NT$39.68 billion of shares after selling a net NT$45.03 billion a week earlier, the Taiwan Stock Exchange said yesterday. The top three stocks sold by foreign investors were Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), China Airlines Ltd (CAL, 中華航空) and Pegatron Corp (和碩), while the top three bought were HannStar Display Corp (瀚宇彩晶), Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控) and Innolux Corp (群創), the exchange said in a statement. As of Friday last week, the market capitalization of shares held by foreign investors was NT$22.32 trillion, or 44.87 percent of total market capitalization, it said.
COMPUTERS
Clevo net profit falls 37.9%
Computer maker Clevo Co (藍天電腦) yesterday reported that net profit last year fell 37.9 percent annually to NT$667 million, while revenue dipped 8 percent to NT$20.2 billion. Earnings per share were NT$1.12, down from NT$1.75 in 2019. The company’s board of directors has proposed to distribute a cash dividend of 0.6 per share, representing a payout ratio of 53.57 percent. The company said that laptop shipments last year rose 8 percent year-on-year to 1.52 million units, while laptop sales increased 5 percent to NT$16.2 billion, despite shortages of key components. As distance learning remains strong and high-end models are likely to benefit from replacement demand, laptop shipments this year are expected to rise 15 percent to 1.75 million units, it said.
RESTAURANTS
TTFB net profit rises 2.5%
Tai Tong Food & Beverage Group (TTFB, 瓦城泰統集團), which operates six restaurant chains in Taiwan and China, yesterday reported that net profit last year increased 2.5 percent year-on-year to NT$369 million. Earnings per share were NT$15.95, a record high, it said. Tai Tong said that it is upbeat about its outlook for the year and plans to accelerate store expansion plans in Taiwan. The company’s board of directors has proposed to distribute a cash dividend of NT$14.5 per share, which represents a payout ratio of 90.91 percent and a dividend yield of 6.6 percent based on yesterday’s closing share price of NT$241.5.
SHIPPING
Evergreen payout approved
Evergreen Marine Corp’s (長榮海運) board of directors last week proposed to distribute a cash dividend of NT$2.5 per common share, the highest over the past decade, based on last year’s earnings per share of NT$5.06, a company filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange showed. The proposed cash dividend represents a payout ratio of 49 percent and a dividend yield of 5.71 percent based on yesterday’s closing share price of NT$43.8.
Taiwanese firms have increased investment in the Philippines in recent years as Manila’s ties with Washington deepen and global supply chains continue to shift away from China, an expert at the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. The Philippines had not been among Taiwanese investors’ top choices in Southeast Asia, CIER Taiwan ASEAN Studies Center director Kristy Hsu (徐遵慈) said at a seminar in Taipei. However, Taiwan’s investment in the country has grown significantly since the COVID-19 pandemic, reaching US $257 million last year, a high in recent years, she said. Although Taiwan’s total investment in the Philippines still lags
Intel Corp regards Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) as a longstanding partner, as the US chipmaker would continue outsourcing production of advanced chips to TSMC, Intel chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) said yesterday. “I don’t look at people as competitors. I look at the collaboration... Nvidia is also, you know, a good friend,” Tan told a news conference following his keynote speech at the Computex trade show in Taipei. “It’s a very trusted partnership for us... We are a big, top customer for them, and we’re going to continue doing that,” he said, referring to TSMC, the world’s largest foundry
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday said it would work with US chipmaker Intel Corp to jointly develop and deploy next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure and intelligent computing platforms in a move to capture booming demand for AI computing systems. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康), said in a statement that the partnership would combine its global manufacturing scale, system integration expertise and AI data center deployment capabilities with Intel’s strengths in processor architecture, silicon technologies and software ecosystem. The companies said they plan to work on equipment used in AI data centers, including server racks powered by
HSBC Holdings PLC is deepening its commitment to Taiwan as the economy emerges as one of the bank’s fastest-growing markets globally, driven by an artificial intelligence (AI) investment boom, expanding cross-border trade, and rising wealth creation. “The advantage that Taiwan has is a growth story linked to the semiconductor and broader AI industries, strong underlying corporate performance, and wealth creation,” said Surendra Rosha, HSBC’s co-chief executive for Asia and the Middle East, in an exclusive interview with the Taipei Times on June 2, during this year’s HSBC Taiwan Conference. That combination has helped HSBC cement its position as the most profitable international