EQUITIES
Investors pocket profits
The TAIEX closed slightly lower yesterday after initial gains were erased amid lingering caution caused by the US Federal Reserve’s hawkish outlook. The bellwether electronics sector gave up an earlier upturn as fears of further volatility among tech stocks on the US markets prompted investors to lock in their profits. The TAIEX closed down 26.70 points, or 0.18 percent, at 15,069.19. Turnover totaled NT$178.284 billion (US$5.89 billion), with foreign institutional investors selling a net NT$10.59 billion of shares on the main board after a net sell of NT$16.76 billion on Tuesday, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
ELECTRONICS
Weak demand hits Innolux
Flat-panel maker Innolux Corp (群創) has encouraged employees to take an extra five days off over the Mid-Autumn Festival and Double Ten National Day holidays, the company said in a statement yesterday. Innolux aims to reduce its factory utilization rate to as low as 50 percent during the second half of this year in response to weak customer demand, the company said. Production line employees are to work a flexible rotation scheme based on adjustments to the usage of the production line, it said. The company’s statement came after an employee wrote to the Chinese-language Apple Daily, accusing the company of forcing workers to take annual leave.
STEELMAKERS
CSC’s pre-tax income dives
China Steel Corp (CSC, 中鋼) said its pre-tax income plummeted 39 percent to NT$2.61 billion last month from NT$4.29 billion in June, due to a reduction in carbon steel sales and a lower gross margin. The Kaohsiung-based firm sold 683,834 tonnes of steel last month, down 15.26 percent from 806,975 tonnes in June, it said in a statement released on Tuesday. During the first seven months of this year, the steelmaker accumulated NT$31.51 billion in pre-tax income, down 29 percent from NT$44.29 billion during the same period last year. However, revenue rose 13 percent year-on-year from NT$255.15 billion to NT$288 billion during the January-to-July period, it said.
BROKERAGES
Firms’ net income up 74%
Securities firms in Taiwan reported combined net income of NT$5.202 billion last month, up 73.92 percent from June, as a decline in brokerage fee income was offset by increases in dealers’ trading income and underwriting income, the Taiwan Stock Exchange said on Monday. The exchange attributed the decline in fee income to a drop in securities transactions last month, when trading fell 4.96 percent month-on-month to NT$4.832 trillion. In the first seven months of this year, the accumulated net income of securities firms was NT$23.655 billion, down 65.37 percent from the same period last year.
BROKERAGES
China Merchants IPOs halted
Chinese bourses have stopped processing more than 20 initial public offering (IPO) plans sponsored by China Merchants Securities Co (招商證券) following an investigation into the broker, exchange disclosures showed. Since Friday last week, the Shenzhen Stock Exchange has suspended 15 IPO plans for its ChiNext board, while the Shanghai exchange has paused five IPO plans for its STAR Market. Three other IPOs targeting the Beijing Stock Exchange were also affected. The bourses attributed the halts to an investigation by authorities into China Merchants Securities’ poor due diligence and rule contraventions.
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) is expected to share his views about the artificial intelligence (AI) industry’s prospects during his speech at the company’s 37th anniversary ceremony, as AI servers have become a new growth engine for the equipment manufacturing service provider. Lam’s speech is much anticipated, as Quanta has risen as one of the world’s major AI server suppliers. The company reported a 30 percent year-on-year growth in consolidated revenue to NT$1.41 trillion (US$43.35 billion) last year, thanks to fast-growing demand for servers, especially those with AI capabilities. The company told investors in November last year that
Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said it plans to ship its new 1 megawatt charging systems for electric trucks and buses in the first half of next year at the earliest. The new charging piles, which deliver up to 1 megawatt of charging power, are designed for heavy-duty electric vehicles, and support a maximum current of 1,500 amperes and output of 1,250 volts, Delta said in a news release. “If everything goes smoothly, we could begin shipping those new charging systems as early as in the first half of next year,” a company official said. The new
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