EQUITIES
Investors remain cautious
The TAIEX yesterday closed slightly higher after giving up most early gains, as market sentiment remained cautious ahead of the conclusion of a two-day policymaking meeting of the US Federal Reserve later in the day, dealers said. Large-cap tech stocks moved up and down throughout the session, while the transportation sector came under heavy pressure led by major shipping stocks, they said. Many tech heavyweights fell from their highs, while late-session bargain hunting prevented them from ending lower, which dealers said they attributed to government-led funds offsetting a foreign institutional sell-off. The TAIEX closed up 14.77 points, or 0.09 percent, at 16,940.83. Turnover totaled NT$397.158 billion (US$13.875 billion), with foreign institutional investors selling a net NT$14.999 billion of shares on the main board after selling a net NT$53.83 billion on Tuesday.
COMPUTERS
Quanta net profit rises 7.6%
Contract laptop maker Quanta Computer Inc (廣達電腦) yesterday posted a net profit of NT$9.28 billion for the final quarter of last year, a 7.6 percent year-on-year increase despite persistent shortages of key components. That led to a whole-year net profit of NT$33.65 billion, a 32.9 percent year-on-year increase, or earnings per share of NT$8.73, the highest in the company’s history. Quanta’s board of directors yesterday proposed distributing a cash dividend of NT$6.6 per common share, representing a payout ratio of 75.6 percent. With Quanta shares closing at NT$92 yesterday, the proposed dividend represents a cash yield of 7.17 percent. The dividend proposal is subject to shareholders’ approval at the company’s annual general meeting on June 17 in Taoyuan, Quanta said.
INVESTMENT
CDFHC net profit hits record
China Development Financial Holding Co (CDFHC, 中華開發金控) yesterday reported record net profit of NT$35 billion for last year, up 177 percent from 2020, thanks to stable contributions from its major subsidiaries, such as China Life Insurance Co (中國人壽), KGI Bank (凱基銀行), KGI Securities Ltd (凱基證券) and CDIB Capital Group (中華開發資本). The company told investors that it would raise its dividend payout this year, after it paid out a cash dividend of NT$0.55 per share last year, adding that it has yet to finalize the distribution plan. Despite fluctuations in local equities in the past few sessions, the company said that its outlook on the local bourse remains cautiously optimistic, citing sound fundamentals at Taiwan’s listed firms.
BANKING
Sunny Hsu released on bail
Former Shin Kong Financial Holding Co (新光金控) spokesman and senior vice president Sunny Hsu (徐順鋆) was on Tuesday released on bail of NT$200,000 after being questioned regarding suspected insider trading. Hsu and five other people, including Shin Kong Financial spokesman and vice president Stan Lee (李超儒), were earlier in the day summoned to the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office to answer questions about an April 2018 merger. At that time, Shin Kong Financial announced that it would acquire MasterLink Securities Co (元富證券), in which it held a 33.45 percent stake, via a share swap valued at about NT$13 billion to bring the firm fully under its corporate umbrella. On Tuesday, prosecutors and investigators also collected evidence for the case at five locations. After being questioned, Lee was released on bail of NT$300,000, prosecutors said.
MULTIFACETED: A task force has analyzed possible scenarios and created responses to assist domestic industries in dealing with US tariffs, the economics minister said The Executive Yuan is tomorrow to announce countermeasures to US President Donald Trump’s planned reciprocal tariffs, although the details of the plan would not be made public until Monday next week, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. The Cabinet established an economic and trade task force in November last year to deal with US trade and tariff related issues, Kuo told reporters outside the legislature in Taipei. The task force has been analyzing and evaluating all kinds of scenarios to identify suitable responses and determine how best to assist domestic industries in managing the effects of Trump’s tariffs, he
TIGHT-LIPPED: UMC said it had no merger plans at the moment, after Nikkei Asia reported that the firm and GlobalFoundries were considering restarting merger talks United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 4 contract chipmaker, yesterday launched a new US$5 billion 12-inch chip factory in Singapore as part of its latest effort to diversify its manufacturing footprint amid growing geopolitical risks. The new factory, adjacent to UMC’s existing Singapore fab in the Pasir Res Wafer Fab Park, is scheduled to enter volume production next year, utilizing mature 22-nanometer and 28-nanometer process technologies, UMC said in a statement. The company plans to invest US$5 billion during the first phase of the new fab, which would have an installed capacity of 30,000 12-inch wafers per month, it said. The
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
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