EQUITIES
Foreigners sell more shares
Foreign investors last week sold a net NT$107.81 billion (US$3.63 million) in local shares after selling a net NT$41.45 billion a week earlier, the Taiwan Stock Exchange said in a statement yesterday. As of Friday, foreign investors had sold NT$890.04 billion in local shares since the beginning of the year, the exchange said. The top three shares sold by foreign investors last week were United Microelectronics Corp (聯電), Yuanta Financial Holding Co (元大金控) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), while the top three shares bought by foreign investors were Innolux Corp (群創光電), CTBC Financial Holding Co (中信金控) and Unimicron Technology Corp (欣興電子), it said. As of Friday, the market capitalization of shares held by foreign investors was NT$19.61 trillion, or 40.34 percent of total market capitalization, it said.
FINANCIAL SERVICES
Hotai signs ‘green’ deal
Hotai Finance Co (和潤企業), a vehicle loans and insurance service unit of Hotai Motor Co (和泰汽車), yesterday signed a sustainability-linked loan deal with 18 banks with the aim of promoting green energy investment and achieving net zero carbon emissions. The three-year, NT$15 billion syndicated loans were led by CTBC Bank (中國信託銀行), Hotai Finance said, adding that it has inked NT$24 billion in sustainability-linked loans over the past two years.
JAPAN
School plans for TSMC kids
An international school in Japan plans to build additional space to accommodate an expected influx of Taiwanese students when Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) completes a new factory in Kumamoto Prefecture, a news report said. When TSMC begins mass production at its first plant in Japan in December 2024, about 600 Taiwanese employees and their families, including 150 schoolchildren, are expected move to Kumamoto, public broadcaster NHK reported on Friday. The international school would later this year begin to build a space of about 3,500m2, which it aims to complete by 2024, NHK said.
INSURANCE
Cathay launches eye policy
Cathay Life Insurance Co (國泰人壽) on Wednesday launched the nation’s first eye-related insurance policies as the number of Taiwanese affected by eye disease is rising due to increasing use of mobiles and electronic devices. The new product covers policyholders against four major eye-related conditions: cataracts, glaucoma, macular degeneration and retinal detachment, it said. The company said it would compensate policyholders once they need to have surgery. However, the new product would be only available to those aged between 40 and 70, it said.
STEELMAKERS
Ta Chen upbeat overall
Ta Chen Stainless Pipe Co (大成不銹鋼) yesterday said it remains positive about its business outlook in the long term, although it faces short-term headwinds due to fluctuations in raw material prices. Ta Chen said aggressive interest rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve would affect consumer demand in the near term, but would not have a significant impact on the company as it mainly focuses on engineering, infrastructure and industrial markets. The US market accounts for nearly 80 percent of the firm’s total sales. Shareholders yesterday approved the firm’s NT$1.9 per share in dividend distribution, with a payout ratio of 32.99 percent based on last year’s earnings per share of NT$5.76.
FALLING BEHIND: Samsung shares have declined more than 20 percent this year, as the world’s largest chipmaker struggles in key markets and plays catch-up to rival SK Hynix Samsung Electronics Co is laying off workers in Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand as part of a plan to reduce its global headcount by thousands of jobs, sources familiar with the situation said. The layoffs could affect about 10 percent of its workforces in those markets, although the numbers for each subsidiary might vary, said one of the sources, who asked not to be named because the matter is private. Job cuts are planned for other overseas subsidiaries and could reach 10 percent in certain markets, the source said. The South Korean company has about 147,000 in staff overseas, more than half
Taipei is today suspending its US$2.5 trillion stock market as Super Typhoon Krathon approaches Taiwan with strong winds and heavy rain. The nation is not conducting securities, currency or fixed-income trading, statements from its stock and currency exchanges said. Yesterday, schools and offices were closed in several cities and counties in southern and eastern Taiwan, including in the key industrial port city of Kaohsiung. Taiwan, which started canceling flights, ship sailings and some train services earlier this week, has wind and rain advisories in place for much of the island. It regularly experiences typhoons, and in July shut offices and schools as
An Indian factory producing iPhone components resumed work yesterday after a fire that halted production — the third blaze to disrupt Apple Inc’s local supply chain since the start of last year. Local industrial behemoth Tata Group’s plant in Tamil Nadu, which was shut down by the unexplained fire on Saturday, is a key linchpin of Apple’s nascent supply chain in the country. A spokesperson for subsidiary Tata Electronics Pvt yesterday said that the company would restart work in “many areas of the facility today.” “We’ve been working diligently since Saturday to support our team and to identify the cause of the fire,”
TECH PARTNERSHIP: The deal with Arizona-based Amkor would provide TSMC with advanced packing and test capacities, a requirement to serve US customers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is collaborating with Amkor Technology Inc to provide local advanced packaging and test capacities in Arizona to address customer requirements for geographical flexibility in chip manufacturing. As part of the agreement, TSMC, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, would contract turnkey advanced packaging and test services from Amkor at their planned facility in Peoria, Arizona, a joint statement released yesterday said. TSMC would leverage these services to support its customers, particularly those using TSMC’s advanced wafer fabrication facilities in Phoenix, Arizona, it said. The companies would jointly define the specific packaging technologies, such as TSMC’s Integrated
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