EQUITIES
TAIEX climbs above 17,400
The TAIEX yesterday moved higher to close above 17,400, as interest was ignited by the all-time highs posted by the major indices in the US at the end of last week, dealers said. Select large-cap tech stocks, especially in the semiconductor industry, attracted buying in the wake of the gains posted by their counterparts in the US, they said. Rotational buying pushed up old economy industries, such as shipping and petrochemical stocks, giving another boost to the broader market, they added. The TAIEX climbed 118.40 points, or 0.68 percent, to close at 17,415.30, the day’s high. Turnover totaled NT$373.647 billion (US$13.41 billion), with foreign institutional investors buying a net NT$6.75 billion of shares on the main board, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
EQUITIES
Foreigners invest NT$22bn
Foreign investors last week bought a net NT$21.68 billion of local shares after selling a net NT$4.98 billion the previous week, the Taiwan Stock Exchange said in a statement yesterday. As of Friday, foreign investors had sold an accumulated NT$540.94 billion of local shares since the beginning of this year, the exchange said. Last week, the top three shares bought by foreign investors were Innolux Corp (群創), China Airlines Ltd (中華航空) and EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空), while the top three sold were Evergreen Marine Corp (長榮海運), China Development Financial Holding Co (中華開發金控) and Shin Kong Financial Holding Co (新光金控), the exchange said. As of Friday last week, the market capitalization of shares held by foreign investors was NT$23.23 trillion, or 43.75 percent of total market capitalization, it said.
AUTOMAKERS
Pan German profit edges up
Pan German Universal Motors Ltd (汎德永業汽車), which distributes BMW, Porsche and Mini vehicles in Taiwan, yesterday reported that operating profit last quarter increased 3.24 percent from a year earlier, while net profit rose 4.34 percent, thanks to improving profit margins. The company posted operating profit of NT$362.91 million and net profit of NT$287.65 million, while earnings per share reached NT$3.56, Pan German said in a statement. In the first three quarters of the year, the company’s earnings per share were NT$11.22, the highest for the period in four years, it said. While chip shortages have affected automakers around the world, Pan German said that it is cautiously optimisic about this quarter, after revenue in the first 10 months of the year grew 11.76 percent year-on-year to NT$35.43 billion.
ENTERTAINMENT
HIM net profit hits NT$66m
Record label HIM International Music Inc (華研音樂) yesterday reported net profit of NT$66.22 million in the three months to September, up 46.21 percent from a year earlier, while earnings per share were NT$1.25. Revenue expanded 34.71 percent to NT$182 million in the quarter. While the COVID-19 pandemic affected the firm’s concert sales, increases in licensing revenue helped boost revenue in the first three quarters 30.33 percent to NT$603 million, while net profit rose 31.74 percent to NT$251 million. Earnings per share were NT$4.75 in the nine-month period, it said. As the COVID-19 situation has eased over the past few months, the firm is planning to hold concerts by the end of the year, which is expected to further accelerate revenue growth this year, HIM said in a statement.
SEMICONDUCTOR SERVICES: A company executive said that Taiwanese firms must think about how to participate in global supply chains and lift their competitiveness Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said it expects to launch its first multifunctional service center in Pingtung County in the middle of 2027, in a bid to foster a resilient high-tech facility construction ecosystem. TSMC broached the idea of creating a center two or three years ago when it started building new manufacturing capacity in the US and Japan, the company said. The center, dubbed an “ecosystem park,” would assist local manufacturing facility construction partners to upgrade their capabilities and secure more deals from other global chipmakers such as Intel Corp, Micron Technology Inc and Infineon Technologies AG, TSMC said. It
EXPORT GROWTH: The AI boom has shortened chip cycles to just one year, putting pressure on chipmakers to accelerate development and expand packaging capacity Developing a localized supply chain for advanced packaging equipment is critical for keeping pace with customers’ increasingly shrinking time-to-market cycles for new artificial intelligence (AI) chips, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) said yesterday. Spurred on by the AI revolution, customers are accelerating product upgrades to nearly every year, compared with the two to three-year development cadence in the past, TSMC vice president of advanced packaging technology and service Jun He (何軍) said at a 3D IC Global Summit organized by SEMI in Taipei. These shortened cycles put heavy pressure on chipmakers, as the entire process — from chip design to mass
Germany is to establish its first-ever national pavilion at Semicon Taiwan, which starts tomorrow in Taipei, as the country looks to raise its profile and deepen semiconductor ties with Taiwan as global chip demand accelerates. Martin Mayer, a semiconductor investment expert at Germany Trade & Invest (GTAI), Germany’s international economic promotion agency, said before leaving for Taiwan that the nation is a crucial partner in developing Germany’s semiconductor ecosystem. Germany’s debut at the international semiconductor exhibition in Taipei aims to “show presence” and signal its commitment to semiconductors, while building trust with Taiwanese companies, government and industry associations, he said. “The best outcome
Semiconductor equipment billings in Taiwan are expected to double this year, as manufacturers in the industry are keen to expand production to meet strong global demand for artificial intelligence applications, according to SEMI, which represents companies in the electronics manufacturing and design supply chain. Speaking at a news conference before the opening of Semicon Taiwan trade show tomorrow, SEMI director of industry research and statistics Clark Tseng (曾瑞榆) said semiconductor equipment billings in Taiwan are expected to grow by an annual 100 percent this year, beating an earlier estimate of 70 percent growth. He said that Taiwan received a boost from a
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