INVESTMENT
Fintech investment rises
Taiwan’s financial institutions last year invested NT$18.21 billion (US$655.39 million) in financial technology (fintech), up 10.25 percent from NT$16.52 billion in 2019, the Financial Supervisory Commission said yesterday. Last year’s figure comprised NT$14.16 billion from banks, NT$1.16 billion from securities and futures brokerages, NT$2.62 billion from insurance companies and NT$270 million from other financial institutions, the commission said. This year, fintech investment is expected to increase 29 percent to NT$23.5 billion, including NT$17.45 billion from banks, NT$2.36 billion from securities and futures brokerages and NT$2.96 billion from insurance companies, the commission added.
SEMICONDUCTORS
Vanguard to issue bonds
Vanguard International Semiconductor Co (世界先進) yesterday said it is to issue NT$5 billion in unsecured corporate bonds to finance its capacity expansion plans and environmental protection-related capital expenditures. The five-year bonds include NT$4.3 billion in tranche A with a fixed coupon rate of 0.57 percent and NT$700 million in tranche B with a fixed coupon rate of 0.52 percent, the Hsinchu-based chipmaker said in a regulatory finding. Vanguard said the corporate bonds would be issued through a public offering by underwriters, with KGI Securities Co (凱基證券) as the lead underwriter. The issuance date is Wednesday next week, the firm added.
NUTS AND BOLTS
OFCO planning share sale
OFCO Industrial Corp (久陽精密) yesterday said it plans to sell shares to strategic investors via a private placement, as the maker of nuts and bolts aims to increase capital. The company’s shareholders approved a plan to issue a maximum of 15 million new common shares for the private placement, it said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange. Proceeds from the private placement would be used to repay loans and bolster the company’s working capital, the filing said. OFCO reported NT$2.31 billion in revenue in the first eight months of the year, up 168.7 percent year-on-year, which it attributed to increasing orders from Europe amid the EU’s ongoing anti-dumping investigation into Chinese goods.
PLASTICS
Asia Polymer’s profit spikes
Plastic materials maker Asia Polymer Corp (亞聚) yesterday reported net profit of NT$269 million for last month, up 352.14 percent from a year earlier, and revenue of NT$788 million, an annual increase of 93.26 percent. Earnings per share were NT$0.45, the firm said in a regulatory filing. The firm mainly produces low-density polyethylene and ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) copolymer resins. It is a major beneficiary of the increase in demand for EVA for solar panels in China and footwear products in Western countries. In the first half of the year, it reported net profit of NT$1.48 billion, up 302 percent year-on-year, with earnings per share of NT$2.54.
ENERGY
TCC to invest NT$5.5bn
Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥) on Monday said it plans to invest in renewable energy projects by setting up large energy storage systems at its factory in Yilan County’s Suao Township (蘇澳) and at the Hualien Hoping Industrial Park (花蓮和平工業區). The company plans to invest NT$5.5 billion in the new projects, it said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange. The energy storage systems would be backups and help stabilize the power grid, the firm said.
To many, Tatu City on the outskirts of Nairobi looks like a success. The first city entirely built by a private company to be operational in east Africa, with about 25,000 people living and working there, it accounts for about two-thirds of all foreign investment in Kenya. Its low-tax status has attracted more than 100 businesses including Heineken, coffee brand Dormans, and the biggest call-center and cold-chain transport firms in the region. However, to some local politicians, Tatu City has looked more like a target for extortion. A parade of governors have demanded land worth millions of dollars in exchange
An Indonesian animated movie is smashing regional box office records and could be set for wider success as it prepares to open beyond the Southeast Asian archipelago’s silver screens. Jumbo — a film based on the adventures of main character, Don, a large orphaned Indonesian boy facing bullying at school — last month became the highest-grossing Southeast Asian animated film, raking in more than US$8 million. Released at the end of March to coincide with the Eid holidays after the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, the movie has hit 8 million ticket sales, the third-highest in Indonesian cinema history, Film
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) revenue jumped 48 percent last month, underscoring how electronics firms scrambled to acquire essential components before global tariffs took effect. The main chipmaker for Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp reported monthly sales of NT$349.6 billion (US$11.6 billion). That compares with the average analysts’ estimate for a 38 percent rise in second-quarter revenue. US President Donald Trump’s trade war is prompting economists to retool GDP forecasts worldwide, casting doubt over the outlook for everything from iPhone demand to computing and datacenter construction. However, TSMC — a barometer for global tech spending given its central role in the
Alchip Technologies Ltd (世芯), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) designer specializing in server chips, expects revenue to decline this year due to sagging demand for 5-nanometer artificial intelligence (AI) chips from a North America-based major customer, a company executive said yesterday. That would be the first contraction in revenue for Alchip as it has been enjoying strong revenue growth over the past few years, benefiting from cloud-service providers’ moves to reduce dependence on Nvidia Corp’s expensive AI chips by building their own AI accelerator by outsourcing chip design. The 5-nanometer chip was supposed to be a new growth engine as the lifecycle
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