EQUITIES
TAIEX moves lower
The TAIEX moved lower yesterday, falling by more than 100 points as the bellwether electronics sector took a hit from losses incurred by tech stocks listed on US markets overnight. However, with the market awash in liquidity, buying rotated to old-economy stocks in the shipping and cement industries as investors tended to park their money in safe havens outside the tech sector, dealers said. The TAIEX closed down 121.76 points, or 0.70 percent, at 17,202.11. Turnover totaled NT$439.833 billion (US$15.62 billion). Foreign institutional investors sold a net NT$20.26 billion of shares on the main board yesterday, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
BROKERAGES
Combined profit surges
Securities firms in Taiwan reported combined net profit of NT$11.47 billion for last month, up 52.78 percent from the previous month, the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) said in a statement yesterday. Accumulated net profit among securities firms in the first three months of this year totaled NT$26.85 billion, up NT$31.45 billion from the same period last year, the exchange said. As total TWSE trading value grew 56.29 percent month-on-month to NT$7.06 trillion last month, firms reported an increase in brokerage fee income than the previous month, it said. However, net profit from trading decreased 4.88 percent monthly, while net underwriting income increased by 67.12 percent, it said.
TECHNOLOGY
Ene to cancel shares
IC designer Ene Technology Inc (迅杰科技) yesterday announced a capital reduction scheme in which it would cancel 51.55 percent of its shares in circulation to pare accumulated losses. The scheme would reduce its capitalization to NT$363 million from NT$386.5 billion, the company said in a regulatory filing. The company said it expects net value per share to recover to NT$12 following the capital reduction. The company’s board of directors approved a private placement plan to woo potential strategic investors and boost working capital. The company proposed issuing up to 8 million new shares in the private placement, the filing said.
TECHNOLOGY
Naver eyes global growth
Naver Corp wants to boost its international presence after its US debut last month. To help with that, the South Korean company is considering more US dollar bond sales and is eyeing a possible initial public offering in the US for a unit, Naver chief financial officer Park Sang-jin said in an interview. “To grow, it’s inevitable that we go global,” said Park, who has been with the firm since it was founded in 1999. Naver is looking for more opportunities in Japan, where its Line messaging service is popular, as well as Taiwan, Europe and Southeast Asia, he said.
ELECTRONICS
Purple iPhone sales unveiled
Preorders for purple iPhone 12s and iPhone 12 minis are scheduled to start tomorrow in Taiwan, with the country selected as one of the first markets for sales, Apple Inc said on its Web site. The US electronics giant said that preorders for the “stunning” purple devices would start at 8pm and the new phones would go on sale on Friday next week at a starting price of NT$23,900. The announcement came after Apple unveiled the new color of its latest iPhones overnight.
Shiina Ito has had fewer Chinese customers at her Tokyo jewelry shop since Beijing issued a travel warning in the wake of a diplomatic spat, but she said she was not concerned. A souring of Tokyo-Beijing relations this month, following remarks by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi about Taiwan, has fueled concerns about the impact on the ritzy boutiques, noodle joints and hotels where holidaymakers spend their cash. However, businesses in Tokyo largely shrugged off any anxiety. “Since there are fewer Chinese customers, it’s become a bit easier for Japanese shoppers to visit, so our sales haven’t really dropped,” Ito
The number of Taiwanese working in the US rose to a record high of 137,000 last year, driven largely by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) rapid overseas expansion, according to government data released yesterday. A total of 666,000 Taiwanese nationals were employed abroad last year, an increase of 45,000 from 2023 and the highest level since the COVID-19 pandemic, data from the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) showed. Overseas employment had steadily increased between 2009 and 2019, peaking at 739,000, before plunging to 319,000 in 2021 amid US-China trade tensions, global supply chain shifts, reshoring by Taiwanese companies and
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) received about NT$147 billion (US$4.71 billion) in subsidies from the US, Japanese, German and Chinese governments over the past two years for its global expansion. Financial data compiled by the world’s largest contract chipmaker showed the company secured NT$4.77 billion in subsidies from the governments in the third quarter, bringing the total for the first three quarters of the year to about NT$71.9 billion. Along with the NT$75.16 billion in financial aid TSMC received last year, the chipmaker obtained NT$147 billion in subsidies in almost two years, the data showed. The subsidies received by its subsidiaries —
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) Chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) and the company’s former chairman, Mark Liu (劉德音), both received the Robert N. Noyce Award -- the semiconductor industry’s highest honor -- in San Jose, California, on Thursday (local time). Speaking at the award event, Liu, who retired last year, expressed gratitude to his wife, his dissertation advisor at the University of California, Berkeley, his supervisors at AT&T Bell Laboratories -- where he worked on optical fiber communication systems before joining TSMC, TSMC partners, and industry colleagues. Liu said that working alongside TSMC
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