INVESTMENT
Foreigners net sellers
Foreign investors last week sold a net NT$18.39 billion (US$573.2 million) of local shares after selling a net NT$10.39 billion a week earlier, the Taiwan Stock Exchange said in a statement yesterday. As of Friday, foreign investors had sold NT$1.36 trillion of local shares since the beginning of the year, it said. The top three shares sold by foreign investors last week were Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), Mega Financial Holding Co (兆豐金控) and E.Sun Financial Holding Co (玉山金控), while the top three shares bought by foreign investors were Innolux Corp (群創), SinoPac Holdings Co (永豐金控) and Career Technology Co (嘉聯益). As of Friday, the market capitalization of shares held by foreign investors was NT$15.61 trillion, or 38.44 percent of total market capitalization, it said.
TECHNOLOGY
Zhen Ding revenue up 29%
Zhen Ding Technology Holding Ltd (臻鼎), the nation’s leading printed circuit board (PCB) supplier, yesterday posted revenue of NT$21.19 billion for last month, up 29.86 percent year-on-year and the highest monthly sales in the company’s history, thanks to handset launches by a major customer. It brought the company’s cumulative revenue in the first 10 months of this year to NT$139.64 billion, up 21.54 percent year-on-year, the company said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange. Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co (元大投顧) yesterday forecast Zhen Ding’s PCB shipments for handsets and laptops to be higher this quarter than last quarter, adding that its handset PCB shipments for a major US brand would peak this month, after which shipments would fall sequentially. Average selling prices of the company’s products are predicted to drop by 2 to 5 percent this quarter from last quarter after the peak of mass production ends, Yuanta said.
INVESTMENT
Program supports SMEs
The Executive Yuan has approved a program worth billions of New Taiwan dollars designed to improve the competitiveness of Taiwan’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with a focus on four key areas, Executive Yuan spokesman Lo Ping-cheng (羅秉成) said on Thursday after the weekly Cabinet meeting. The NT$95 billion program, which runs from this year through 2026, would receive funding from government agencies, Lo said. It also seeks to foster world-class businesses by improving the competitiveness of SMEs in the areas of zero emissions, digital transformation, value-added innovation and co-prosperity, he added.
INSURANCE
Regulator approves funds
Taiwan’s non-life insurance companies are expected to raise nearly NT$100 billion in total capital by the end of the year as COVID-19 insurance claims continue to rise and some insurers are planning to conduct more capital injection to improve their financial state, the Financial Supervisory Commission said on Thursday. Six non-life insurers — Cathay Century Insurance Co (國泰世紀產險), CTBC Insurance Co (中國信託產險), Fubon Insurance Co (富邦產險), Tokio Marine Newa Insurance Co (新安東京海上產險), Hotai Insurance Co (和泰產險) and Chung Kuo Insurance Co (兆豐產險) — have obtained regulatory approval to raise combined capital of NT$70.7 billion, the commission said. Cathay Century Insurance and Tokio Marine Newa Insurance are planning to conduct second capital increases of NT$10 billion and of NT$7.5 billion respectively, the commission said.
PATENTS: MediaTek Inc said it would not comment on ongoing legal cases, but does not expect the legal action by Huawei to affect its business operations Smartphone integrated chips designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) on Friday said that a lawsuit filed by Chinese smartphone brand Huawei Technologies Co (華為) over alleged patent infringements would have little impact on its operations. In an announcement posted on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, MediaTek said that it would not comment on an ongoing legal case. However, the company said that Huawei’s legal action would have little impact on its operations. MediaTek’s statement came after China-based PRIP Research said on Thursday that Huawei filed a lawsuit with a Chinese district court claiming that MediaTek infringed on its patents. The infringement mentioned in the lawsuit likely involved
Taipei is today suspending work, classes and its US$2.4 trillion stock market as Typhoon Gaemi 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. Authorities had yesterday issued a warning that the storm could affect people on land and canceled some ship crossings and domestic flights. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) expects its local chipmaking fabs to maintain normal production, the company said in an e-mailed statement. The main chipmaker for Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp said it has activated routine typhoon alert
GROWTH: TSMC increased its projected revenue growth for this year to more than 25 percent, citing stronger-than-expected demand for AI devices and smartphones The Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, 台灣經濟研究院) yesterday raised its forecast for Taiwan’s GDP growth this year from 3.29 percent to 3.85 percent, as exports and private investment recovered faster than it predicted three months ago. The Taipei-based think tank also expects that Taiwan would see a 8.19 percent increase in exports this year, better than the 7.55 percent it projected in April, as US technology giants spent more money on artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure and development. “There will be more AI servers going forward, but it remains to be seen if the momentum would extend to personal computers, smartphones and
Catastrophic computer outages caused by a software update from one company have once again exposed the dangers of global technological dependence on a handful of players, experts said on Friday. A flawed update sent out by the little-known security firm CrowdStrike Holdings Inc brought airlines, TV stations and myriad other aspects of daily life to a standstill. The outages affected companies or individuals that use CrowdStrike on the Microsoft Inc’s Windows platform. When they applied the update, the incompatible software crashed computers into a frozen state known as the “blue screen of death.” “Today CrowdStrike has become a household name, but not in