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.
Taichung reported the steepest fall in completed home prices among the six special municipalities in the first quarter of this year, data compiled by Taiwan Realty Co (台灣房屋) showed yesterday. From January through last month, the average transaction price for completed homes in Taichung fell 8 percent from a year earlier to NT$299,000 (US$9,483) per ping (3.3m²), said Taiwan Realty, which compiled the data based on the government’s price registration platform. The decline could be attributed to many home buyers choosing relatively affordable used homes to live in themselves, instead of newly built homes in the city’s prime property market, Taiwan Realty
The government yesterday approved applications by Alphabet Inc’s Google to invest NT$27.08 billion (US$859.98 million) in Taiwan, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement. The Department of Investment Review approved two investments proposed by Google, with much of the funds to be used for data processing and electronic information supply services, as well as inventory procurement businesses in the semiconductor field, the ministry said. It marks the second consecutive year that Google has applied to increase its investment in Taiwan. Google plans to infuse NT$25.34 billion into Charter Investments Ltd (特許投資顧問) through its Singapore-based subsidiary Fructan Holdings Singapore Pte Ltd, and
JET JUICE: The war on Iran’s secondary effects have seen fuel prices skyrocket, knocking flight schedules down to earth in return as airlines struggle with costs Airline passengers should brace for more irritation in the next few months as carriers worldwide cancel flights and ground planes to cope with stratospheric increases in jet-fuel prices. Dutch flag carrier KLM is the latest company to cut its schedule, saying on Thursday that it would scrap 80 return flights at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport in the coming month. That puts it in the same league as United Airlines Holdings Inc, Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd, which have all pruned itineraries to mitigate costs. Global capacity for next month has been reduced by about 3 percentage points, with all
Micron Technology Inc is a driving force pushing the US Congress to pass legislation that would put new export restrictions on equipment its Chinese competitors use to make their chips, according to people familiar with the matter. A US House of Representatives panel yesterday was to vote on the “MATCH Act,” a bill designed to close gaps in restrictions on chipmaking equipment. It would also pressure foreign companies that sell equipment to Chinese chipmaking facilities to align with export curbs on US companies like Lam Research Corp and Applied Materials Inc. The bill targets facilities operated by China’s ChangXin Memory Technologies Inc
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