TECHNOLOGY
E Ink payout plan approved
Shareholders of E Ink Holdings Inc (元太科技), a leading e-paper display supplier, yesterday approved the company’s proposal to distribute a cash dividend of NT$3.2 per share, suggesting a payout ratio of 70.64 percent based on the company’s earnings per share of NT$4.53 last year, which were the highest in 10 years. E Ink reported revenue of NT$19.65 billion (US$659.62 million) for last year, the highest in nearly nine years, due to robust demand for e-paper displays, e-notes and electronic shelf labels. E Ink chief financial officer Lloyd Chen (陳樂群) told shareholders that the evolution of the contactless economy and digital transformation of retailing businesses have increased demand for the company’s products, prompting it to launch three new production lines for e-paper displays this year, as well as another production line next year. The company also pledged to use 100 percent renewable energy by 2030 and achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2040.
STEELMAKERS
CSC pretax profit drops
China Steel Corp (CSC, 中鋼), the nation’s only integrated steelmaker, yesterday reported that its pretax profit last month dropped 22 percent to NT$4.44 billion from a month earlier, as revenue decreased 4.24 percent year-on-year to NT$45.41 billion. On a yearly basis, China Steel’s pretax profit fell 41.76 percent, the company said. The monthly decline in pretax profit was mainly due to a decrease in sales volume, while a lack of income from its mining investment compared with April also led to a decline in profit, it said. From January to last month, the company reported a 9 percent decrease in cumulative pretax profit to NT$24.6 billion, down from NT$26.9 billion a year earlier. Consolidated revenue in the first five months of the year increased 17 percent to NT$204.1 billion, up from NT$174.45 billion a year earlier.
COMPUTERS
Adlink expects improvements
Industrial computer maker Adlink Technology Inc (凌華科技) yesterday said gross margin would improve in the second half of the year, thanks to price hikes and favorable foreign exchange rates. Its inventory level is also forecast to decline in the second half compared with the first half, the company told shareholders at its annual general meeting in Taipei. With component and raw material shortages expected to ease in the coming months, and production resuming at its plants in China, Adlink said its business outlook would improve in the third and fourth quarters, after a weak performance in the first two quarters. The company reported earnings per share of NT$0.55 last year, down 51.2 percent year-on-year. Shareholders approved the company’s plan to distribute a cash dividend of NT$0.3 per share.
INSURANCE
Firms lose on virus policies
Local insurance companies had as of Monday paid 314,900 COVID-19 insurance policyholders a total of NT$11.2 billion, three times the cumulative premium income of NT$3.56 billion from the sales of the policies, the Financial Supervisory Commission told a news conference on Tuesday. Compensation would likely surpass NT$15 billion at the end of this month, the commission said. Meanwhile, 3.76 million policies have been sold so far this year, the commission said. The number of claims grew by 70,000 to 80,000 per week amid rising local COVID-19 case numbers, the commission said.
PROTECTIONISM: China hopes to help domestic chipmakers gain more market share while preparing local tech companies for the possibility of more US sanctions Beijing is stepping up pressure on Chinese companies to buy locally produced artificial intelligence (AI) chips instead of Nvidia Corp products, part of the nation’s effort to expand its semiconductor industry and counter US sanctions. Chinese regulators have been discouraging companies from purchasing Nvidia’s H20 chips, which are used to develop and run AI models, sources familiar with the matter said. The policy has taken the form of guidance rather than an outright ban, as Beijing wants to avoid handicapping its own AI start-ups and escalating tensions with the US, said the sources, who asked not to be identified because the
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
CHEMICAL FIRE: 10 Indian employees were injured by smoke inhalation at a Tata Electronics plant in Tamil Nadu state that produces components for Apple Inc At least 10 people received medical treatment, with two hospitalized after a major fire on Saturday disrupted production at a key Tata Electronics Pvt Ltd plant in southern India that makes Apple Inc’s iPhone components. The fire occurred at the plant in the city of Hosur in Tamil Nadu state that makes some iPhone components. It broke out near another building inside the Tata complex, which was to begin producing complete iPhones in the coming months. The fire was contained to one building and has been extinguished fully, top district administrative official K.M. Sarayu said. No decision has been made on when
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