Yulon Motor Co (裕隆汽車) yesterday reported net profit of NT$1.36 billion (US$48.58 million) for last quarter, the highest in about a decade and up sixfold from NT$197.23 million a year earlier, as auto sales in China and Taiwan rebounded from a deep COVID-19 slump last year.
Yulon said that operating profit surged to NT$1.85 billion, up from NT$616 million a year earlier, or earnings per share of NT$1.39, from NT$0.13 last year.
Auto sales in China in the first quarter increased 75.6 percent year-on-year to 6.48 million units, Yulon said, adding that sales this year are forecast to reach 26.3 million units, an increase of 3.9 percent annually.
The automaker’s board of directors yesterday approved the distribution of a cash dividend of NT$1 per share, representing a payout ratio of 35.7 percent based on last year’s earnings per share of NT$2.8.
Yulon Nissan Motor Co (裕隆日產), a subsidiary that distributes Nissan and Infiniti vehicles, also saw a spike in sales, with net profit in the first quarter reaching NT$809.18 million from NT$178.59 million a year earlier, it reported on Wednesday, attributing the performance to a recovery in the Chinese market and Beijing’s stimulus measures.
Yulon Nissan also booked an investment gain of NT$903.47 million in a Chinese subsidiary, Guangzhou Fengshen Automotive Co (風神汽車), tripling from the NT$318 million investment from a year earlier, the company said. Yulon Nissan holds a 42.69 percent stake in Guangzhou Fengshen.
Operating profit surged to NT$76.27 million, up from NT$2.9 million a year earlier, while non-operating profit jumped to NT$935.6 million from NT$225.88 million, it said.
The company said that it plans to distribute a cash dividend of NT$18.53 per share, which would represent a payout ratio of 85 percent based on last year’s earnings per share of NT$21.8.
Yulon Nissan’s board also approved the appointment of Luxgen Motor Co (納智捷汽車) president Tsay Wen-rong (蔡文榮) as the company’s new president, replacing Leman Lee (李振成), who retired on Wednesday.
The new appointment is to take effect on May 25.
Luxgen is an own-brand vehicle vendor that is owned by Yulon.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last