Wan Hai Lines Ltd (萬海航運) expects to remain in the black this quarter and is upbeat about next year, as the global economy might rebound in the second quarter, Wan Hai Lines chairman Chen Po-ting (陳柏廷) said yesterday.
Chen’s comments came as the shipping company reported net profit for last quarter plunged 25.8 percent quarter-on-quarter and 37 percent year-on-year to NT$22.35 billion (US$718.3 million).
Revenue retreated by a double-digit rate year-on-year, company data showed.
Photo: Wang Yi-hung, Taipei Times
“The global economy is not as bad as some people thought and it is better than it was during the global financial crisis,” Chen said on the sidelines of an event in Taipei.
While three factors — rapid inflation, pessimism among consumers and geopolitical tensions — have affected the global economy considerably, “different sectors have mixed performances,” he said.
“The consumer goods sector, including smart devices, has fared poorly, but the essential products sector is showing resilience,” he said, adding that the global economy is expected to rebound in the second quarter next year.
Wan Hai Lines president Tommy Hsieh (謝福隆) said that the company would remain profitable this quarter despite an annual contraction of 38 percent in revenue last month due to falling freight rates and declining demand.
The company expects stable revenue growth, as half of its contracts with clients in the US market were signed on a long-term basis and are protected by fixed freight rates, Hsieh said.
Wan Hai Lines does not expect its bottom line to be in the red next year, he said, without offering an exact estimate.
Asked about the company’s year-end bonus policy, Chen said it is too early to say, but it would try its best to give its employees an appropriate distribution of bonuses.
Wan Hai Lines posted net profit of NT$93.11 billion in the first three quarters, up 34 percent year-on-year, or earnings per share of NT$33.18.
The company next year would retire two to four aging vessels, while it plans to take delivery of 24 new vessels with a combined capacity of 173,558 twenty-foot equivalent units, the company said.
Shares in Taiwan closed at a new high yesterday, the first trading day of the new year, as contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) continued to break records amid an artificial intelligence (AI) boom, dealers said. The TAIEX closed up 386.21 points, or 1.33 percent, at 29,349.81, with turnover totaling NT$648.844 billion (US$20.65 billion). “Judging from a stronger Taiwan dollar against the US dollar, I think foreign institutional investors returned from the holidays and brought funds into the local market,” Concord Securities Co (康和證券) analyst Kerry Huang (黃志祺) said. “Foreign investors just rebuilt their positions with TSMC as their top target,
H200 CHIPS: A source said that Nvidia has asked the Taiwanese company to begin production of additional chips and work is expected to start in the second quarter Nvidia Corp is scrambling to meet demand for its H200 artificial intelligence (AI) chips from Chinese technology companies and has approached contract manufacturer Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to ramp up production, sources said. Chinese technology companies have placed orders for more than 2 million H200 chips for this year, while Nvidia holds just 700,000 units in stock, two of the people said. The exact additional volume Nvidia intends to order from TSMC remains unclear, they said. A third source said that Nvidia has asked TSMC to begin production of the additional chips and work is expected to start in the second
REVENUE PERFORMANCE: Cloud and network products, and electronic components saw strong increases, while smart consumer electronics and computing products fell Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday posted 26.51 percent quarterly growth in revenue for last quarter to NT$2.6 trillion (US$82.44 billion), the strongest on record for the period and above expectations, but the company forecast a slight revenue dip this quarter due to seasonal factors. On an annual basis, revenue last quarter grew 22.07 percent, the company said. Analysts on average estimated about NT$2.4 trillion increase. Hon Hai, which assembles servers for Nvidia Corp and iPhones for Apple Inc, is expanding its capacity in the US, adding artificial intelligence (AI) server production in Wisconsin and Texas, where it operates established campuses. This
Garment maker Makalot Industrial Co (聚陽) yesterday reported lower-than-expected fourth-quarter revenue of NT$7.93 billion (US$251.44 million), down 9.48 percent from NT$8.76 billion a year earlier. On a quarterly basis, revenue fell 10.83 percent from NT$8.89 billion, company data showed. The figure was also lower than market expectations of NT$8.05 billion, according to data compiled by Yuanta Securities Investment and Consulting Co (元大投顧), which had projected NT$8.22 billion. Makalot’s revenue this quarter would likely increase by a mid-teens percentage as the industry is entering its high season, Yuanta said. Overall, Makalot’s revenue last year totaled NT$34.43 billion, down 3.08 percent from its record NT$35.52
RSS