EQUITIES
TAEIX closes up
The TAIEX recouped early losses to close higher yesterday, with trading buoyed by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (台積電) mid-session announcement that it would not be cutting its first-quarter sales forecast. The chipmaker in January said it expects revenue of US$16.7 billion to US$17.5 billion, with a median forecast of US$17.1 billion. The TAIEX closed up 94.70 points, or 0.61 percent, at 15,598.49. Turnover on the main board totaled NT$251.507 billion (US$8.22 billion), with foreign institutional investors selling a net NT$4.52 billion of shares, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
EQUITIES
Foreigners sell NT$9.28bn
Foreign institutional investors last week sold a net NT$9.28 billion of local shares, after selling a net NT$9.31 billion the previous week, the Taiwan Stock Exchange said yesterday. The top three shares sold by foreign investors last week were EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空), E.Sun Financial Holding Co (玉山金控) and Unimicron Technology Corp (欣興電子), while the top three bought by foreign investors were Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp (陽明海運), Evergreen Marine Corp (長榮海運) and Taiwan Business Bank (台灣企銀), the exchange said in a statement. As of Friday last week, foreign investors had bought NT$226.35 billion of local shares since the beginning of this year, while the market capitalization of the shares held by foreign investors was NT$19.66 trillion, or 40.54 percent of total market capitalization, it said.
ELECTRONICS
MediaTek shares soar 9.41%
Shares of handset chip designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) yesterday soared 9.41 percent to close at NT$791 after the company announced a proposal to issue a NT$76 per share cash dividend based on last year’s earnings per share of NT$74.59. The proposed payout represents a cash dividend yield of 9.61 percent and a payout ratio of 101.89 percent. If approved by shareholders on May 31, the proposal would be the second-highest payout for listed companies, after smartphone camera lens maker Largan Precision Co (大立光) proposed a cash dividend of NT$85.5 this year based on earnings per share of NT$169.47 last year.
TELECOMS
C.H. Jih joins Taiwan Star
Taiwan Star Telecom Corp’s (台灣之星) board of directors yesterday approved president Cliff Lai’s (賴弦五) resignation and tapped former Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大) executive C.H. Jih (揭朝華) as his successor to accelerate its integration with Taiwan Mobile, the company said in a statement. The changes took effect yesterday, it added. Taiwan Mobile is acquiring Taiwan Star Telecom in a NT$19.72 billion deal after obtaining conditional approval from the National Communications Commission in January. Over the past 30 years, Jih worked in telecom and cable TV posts at Taiwan Mobile subsidiaries including Taiwan Fixed Network Co (台灣固網) and Kbro Co (凱擘).
ENERGY
CPC to hold LPG prices
CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday said it would keep retail prices of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as well as those of industrial-grade propane, butane and LPG used in vehicles unchanged this month as part of the state-run company’s measures to help stabilize domestic consumer prices, it said in a statement. The company has held back price hikes of NT$22.1 per kilogram in total since October 2019 to adhere with a government policy on pricing, it said.
To many, Tatu City on the outskirts of Nairobi looks like a success. The first city entirely built by a private company to be operational in east Africa, with about 25,000 people living and working there, it accounts for about two-thirds of all foreign investment in Kenya. Its low-tax status has attracted more than 100 businesses including Heineken, coffee brand Dormans, and the biggest call-center and cold-chain transport firms in the region. However, to some local politicians, Tatu City has looked more like a target for extortion. A parade of governors have demanded land worth millions of dollars in exchange
Hong Kong authorities ramped up sales of the local dollar as the greenback’s slide threatened the foreign-exchange peg. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) sold a record HK$60.5 billion (US$7.8 billion) of the city’s currency, according to an alert sent on its Bloomberg page yesterday in Asia, after it tested the upper end of its trading band. That added to the HK$56.1 billion of sales versus the greenback since Friday. The rapid intervention signals efforts from the city’s authorities to limit the local currency’s moves within its HK$7.75 to HK$7.85 per US dollar trading band. Heavy sales of the local dollar by
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) revenue jumped 48 percent last month, underscoring how electronics firms scrambled to acquire essential components before global tariffs took effect. The main chipmaker for Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp reported monthly sales of NT$349.6 billion (US$11.6 billion). That compares with the average analysts’ estimate for a 38 percent rise in second-quarter revenue. US President Donald Trump’s trade war is prompting economists to retool GDP forecasts worldwide, casting doubt over the outlook for everything from iPhone demand to computing and datacenter construction. However, TSMC — a barometer for global tech spending given its central role in the
An Indonesian animated movie is smashing regional box office records and could be set for wider success as it prepares to open beyond the Southeast Asian archipelago’s silver screens. Jumbo — a film based on the adventures of main character, Don, a large orphaned Indonesian boy facing bullying at school — last month became the highest-grossing Southeast Asian animated film, raking in more than US$8 million. Released at the end of March to coincide with the Eid holidays after the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, the movie has hit 8 million ticket sales, the third-highest in Indonesian cinema history, Film
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