EQUITIES
Foreigners buy NT$29.96bn
Foreign investors last week bought a net NT$29.96 billion (US$1.08 billion) of local shares after buying a net NT$48.5 billion a week earlier, the Taiwan Stock Exchange said yesterday. The top three shares foreign investors bought last week were Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), E.Sun Financial Holding Co (玉山金控) and Shin Kong Financial Holding Co (新光金控), while the top three sold were United Microelectronics Corp (聯電), Innolux Corp (群創) and Winbond Electronics Corp (華邦電子), the exchange said. As of Friday, the market cap of shares held by foreign investors was NT$24.61 trillion, or 43.79 percent of total market capitalization, it said.
MANUFACTURING
Value Valves sales hit high
Value Valves Co (捷流閥業) yesterday reported record revenue of NT$2.4 billion for last year, up 0.59 percent from the previous year, after posting better-than-expected sales for last month — up 8.11 percent year-on-year to NT$207.29 million. The company, which manufactures a range of valves with facilities in Taiwan and China, attributed the strong results to rising demand for valves in the petrochemical, shipping and electronics industries. The company said rising orders for cryogenic valves, which are used in liquefied natural gas carriers, also contributed to revenue growth.
MANUFACTURING
Iron Force sales fall 1.87%
Iron Force Industrial Co (劍麟), which makes clothes hangers, seat belts, airbag inflators and safety parts, yesterday reported revenue of NT$293.56 million for last month, down 1.87 percent from a month earlier and 20.05 percent from a year earlier. The company said that clothes hanger sales fell due to fewer working days last month, but auto parts sales increased due to seasonal factors. Total revenue for last year was NT$3.64 billion, up 5.64 percent from 2020, with auto parts accounting for 80 percent of sales and clothes hangers making up the remainder, it said.
MACHINERY
Bright Sheland sales rise
Bright Sheland International Co (旭然國際), which makes filtration products and separation systems under the Filtrafine brand, yesterday reported revenue of NT$58.37 million for last month, up 37.34 percent from a year earlier and posting a monthly record for a second consecutive month. The company said demand for filtering facilities continued to rise as clients in the semiconductor and electronics sectors increased capital expenditure and built new plants. The relocation of plants by clients seeking to diversify risks also helped boost sales, it said. Revenue in the fourth quarter rose 42.91 percent to NT$163.57 million from a year earlier, while revenue for the full year was NT$590.4 million, up 15.96 percent from 2020.
BANKING
TCB Prague office approved
The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) has approved Taiwan Cooperative Bank’s (TCB, 合作金庫銀行) application to set up a representative office in Prague, making it the second Taiwanese bank to have a presence in the Czech capital. The representative office would help the bank seek business opportunities and enhance its service in the European market, the commission said in a statement on Friday. The commission approved a similar request by the Export-Import Bank of the Republic of China (中國輸出入銀行) on Nov. 11. Taiwan Cooperative Bank has representative offices in Beijing and Yangon, Myanmar, as well as 13 overseas branches.
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
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
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
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