Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp (高端疫苗) yesterday reported net profit of NT$1.41 billion (US$50.3 million) for last year and its board of directors approved a plan to distribute a stock dividend of NT$5 per share, a company regulatory filing showed.
The company turned a profit for the first time last year, thanks to sales of 5 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and a government subsidy of NT$470 million for human testing.
Medigen, which began selling its COVID-19 vaccine in the second half of last year after being granted an emergency use authorization in July, reported that revenue expanded 298-fold to NT$3.28 billion, up from NT$11 million in 2020.
Photo: Tsai Szu-pei, Taipei Times
Earnings per share were NT$6.65 last year, compared with losses per share of NT$3.61 in 2020, the company said.
The dividend payout would be subject to shareholders’ approval at an annual general meeting on June 30, it said.
The board of directors also approved a proposal to raise funds by issuing 7 million new common shares, as the company aims to continue expanding production capacity, Medigen said.
The company expects to raise NT$1.75 billion via the new share issuance and obtain another NT$1.75 billion via a new bond issuance, it said.
Medigen expects to receive more international orders for its COVID-19 vaccine this year and aims to produce 100 million doses this year, it 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
Hong Kong authorities ramped up sales of the local dollar as the greenback’s slide threatened the foreign-exchange peg. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) sold a record HK$60.5 billion (US$7.8 billion) of the city’s currency, according to an alert sent on its Bloomberg page yesterday in Asia, after it tested the upper end of its trading band. That added to the HK$56.1 billion of sales versus the greenback since Friday. The rapid intervention signals efforts from the city’s authorities to limit the local currency’s moves within its HK$7.75 to HK$7.85 per US dollar trading band. Heavy sales of the local dollar by
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
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