The combined revenue of the 962 companies listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) last month increased 8.92 percent to NT$3.34 trillion (US$119.84 billion) year-on-year, the exchange said on Tuesday last week.
While 351 TWSE-listed firms reported a decline, 611 firms reported revenue growth, the exchange said in a statement.
The combined revenue of listed firms last month grew 35.33 percent from January 2020, before the impact of COVID-19 was a factor, it added.
Photo: Sam Yeh, AFP
The highest revenue increases last month were reported in the shipping, oil, gas and electricity, and semiconductor industries, the exchange said.
“The shipping industry continued to benefit from an imblance of supply and demand amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which has boosted freight volumes and rates,” the exchange said, adding that firms in the industry reported that revenue last month increased 82.87 percent to NT$169.7 billion year-on-year.
Evergreen Marine Corp (長榮海運), the nation’s largest container shipping firm by fleet size, reported revenue of NT$56.84 billion for last month, up 99.9 percent year-on-year, while Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp (陽明海運), the nation’s second-largest, reported revenue of NT$35.59 billion, up 74.07 percent, and Wan Hai Lines Ltd (萬海航運), the third-largest, reported revenue of NT$32.51 billion, up 140.03 percent, the companies’ regulatory filings showed.
“The sales outlook for shipping firms this year remains promising in light of robust demand and persistent port congestion worldwide, keeping freight rates up,” Taishin Securities Investment Advisory Co (台新投顧) said in a note on Wednesday. “What might deserve attention is whether concerns over Russia-Ukraine tensions and rising inflation could affect consumer demand and help ease shipping bottlenecks.”
Sales in the oil, gas and electricity industry benefited from rising raw material costs for petrochemicals caused by higher crude oil prices, with their combined revenue increasing 47.45 percent to NT$69.3 billion from a year earlier, while firms in the semiconductor industry gained support from robust demand for chips used in 5G applications and automotive devices, causing their combined revenue to increase 28.53 percent to NT$396.9 billion, the exchange said.
Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化), a major subsidiary of Formosa Plastics Group (台塑集團), reported that revenue increased 52.5 percent to NT$64.42 billion from a year earlier, as its refining and naphtha businesses benefited from rising international crude oil prices.
Taishin Securities said it has an optimistic outlook for Formosa Petrochemical’s sales this quarter, citing heightened geopolitical tensions over Ukraine, lower-than-expected production by OPEC+ and disrupted oil production in the US due to a cold snap as factors lifting oil prices.
The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the digital transformation worldwide and led to a surge in demand for semiconductors used in devices for remote working, while demand for chips used in high-performance computing, electric vehicles and 5G-related devices continues to be robust, Taishin Securities said.
Increasing geopolitical tensions have brought uncertainty to the semiconductor supply chain and encouraged firms to stockpile supplies, which bodes well for the overall semiconductor industry, including IC design, foundry, and chip packaging and testing firms, it added.
Meanwhile, the rubber industry and the financial services industry last month posted relatively large declines in revenue from a year earlier, the exchange said.
The rubber industry reported that revenue fell 16.96 percent to NT$18.6 billion due to weaker demand for vehicle tires and medical gloves, while a decline in the net income of insurance firms dragged down sales in the financial services industry, it added.
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