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.
Dutch brewing company Heineken NV yesterday said that it has reached an agreement to acquire a subsidiary brewery of Taiwan’s Sanyo Whisbih Group (三洋維士比集團). Heineken is to assume majority ownership and management rights of the Long Chuan Zuan Co (龍泉鑽興業) brewery in Pingtung County’s Neipu Township (內埔), the Dutch company said. It would become the first multinational brewing company to operate brewery in Taiwan once the acquisition is completed. The deal has been approved by the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Investment Commission, but details of the financial transaction cannot be disclosed at this time, as terms of the settlement have not been completed,
Had Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck hopped on an electric scooter rather than a Vespa in the classic film Roman Holiday, their spin around the Eternal City might have ended in tears. The number of crashes and near-misses involving the two-wheelers has prompted Rome authorities to impose some order on a booming rental market that began two years ago. The havoc came to a head earlier this month when two US tourists attempted a night-time drive down the Spanish Steps, causing more than 25,000 euros (US$26,392) worth of damage to the 18th-century monument. Caught on security footage, the couple in their late 20s
LOOK WHO OWES: China’s exposure to Taiwanese banks was the second-largest, with Luxembourg third, followed by Hong Kong and Japan, the central bank said The US remained the largest debtor country to Taiwan’s banking sector for a 27th consecutive quarter in the first quarter of this year, with its exposure rising 8.3 percent from a quarter earlier on the back of an increase in US bonds, the central bank said on Friday. Data compiled by the central bank showed that outstanding international claims by Taiwanese banks on a direct risk basis to the US stood at US$125.38 billion as of the end of March. Department of Financial Inspection deputy head Pan Ya-hui (潘雅慧) said that the US Federal Reserve’s launch of a rate hike cycle in
GREEN CITY: The company is set to invest US$8 billion to make electric vehicles and batteries for a new city that would rely entirely on renewable energy sources Indonesia said that Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) is considering investing in the country’s new capital city, a move that would bolster the US$34 billion construction project. Hon Hai, which is known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), is looking at setting up an electric bus system and an Internet of Things network at Nusantara, as Indonesia’s new capital is to be called, Indonesian Minister of Investment Bahlil Lahadalia said in a statement yesterday. Hon Hai chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) met with Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Saturday to discuss the company’s plan to invest US$8 billion to build a manufacturing plant
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