EQUITIES
Foreigners buy NT$78.28bn
Foreign investors last week bought a net NT$78.28 billion (US$2.51 billion) of local shares after buying a net NT$89.53 billion a week earlier, the Taiwan Stock Exchange said in a statement yesterday. As of Friday, foreign investors had sold NT$1.197 trillion of local shares since the beginning of the year, it said. The top three shares bought by foreign investors last week were United Microelectronics Corp (聯電), Walsin Lihwa Corp (華新麗華) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電). The top three shares sold by foreign investors were Taiwan Cement Corp (台灣水泥), AUO Corp (友達光電) and China Airlines Ltd (中華航空), the exchange said. As of Friday, the market capitalization of shares held by foreign investors was NT$18.38 trillion, or 40.67 percent of total market capitalization, it said.
STEELMAKERS
CSC posts pretax loss
China Steel Corp (CSC, 中鋼), the nation’s only integrated steel producer, yesterday posted a deeper pretax loss of NT$1.45 billion for last month, compared with a pretax loss of NT$1.41 billion in September. Its operating loss improved to NT$1.86 billion last month from operating loss of NT$3.67 billion in the previous month, it said. During the first 10 months of this year, pretax profit dipped about 59 percent to NT$29 billion from NT$70.58 billion a year earlier, while revenue rose 1 percent from NT$382.05 billion to NT$386.58 billion. The company attributed the weaker profit performance during the 10-month period to a slump in demand over the past few months. Shipments contracted about 9.42 percent to 7.28 million tonnes during the first 10 months, from 8.03 million tonnes a year earlier.
REAL ESTATE
Hiyes eyes stable quarter
Hiyes International Co (海悅國際開發), Taiwan’s largest real-estate agency, forecasts stable business this quarter, as the housing market in central and southern Taiwan remains resilient on the back of real demand, it said. The company is to settle commissions with closed projects this quarter and sales at new projects are expected to gain momentum toward the end of the year, Hiyes said last week, adding that real demand underpinned transactions in central and southern Taiwan. Hiyes reported that net profit for last quarter plunged 52.19 percent year-on-year to NT$168.16 million, despite a 3.54 percent gain in revenue at NT$1.16 billion. Earnings per share were NT$1.44. Cumulative revenue fell 1.37 percent year-on-year to NT$3.53 billion in the first three quarters, while net profit tumbled 43.33 percent to NT$657.51 million, which translated into earnings per share of NT$5.5, company data showed.
RESTAURANTS
Bornga to open in Taipei
Bornga, a Korean restaurant chain launched by South Korean celebrity chef Paik Jong-won, is to open its first Taiwanese branch in Taipei on Friday. The restaurant brand said it had brought in South Korean chefs to train the staff of the new store, which is to be located along Civic Boulevard near Dunhua S Road. The restaurant is to feature Bornga’s specialty sauces and signature dishes, including woo samgyup, or thinly sliced beef brisket marinated in a special sauce, the restaurant chain said. Paik, 56, is a well-known celebrity chef and restaurateur, as well as the star of the recent Netflix series Paik’s Spirit, in which he hosts South Korean celebrities for conversations over drinks and a meal.
Staff writer, with CNA
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