Continental Holdings Corp (欣陸投控) yesterday posted record-high net income of NT$2.89 billion (US$93.69 million) for last year, supported by robust contributions from three major subsidiaries and a one-off tax benefit.
The figure represented a 58.15 percent year-on-year increase and translated into earnings per share of NT$3.51, the Taipei-based conglomerate said, adding that its board proposed distributing a cash dividend of NT$2.5 per share from last year’s profit.
That suggests a payout ratio of 71.3 percent pending approval by shareholders later this year, it said.
PROFITABLE UNITS
Consolidated revenue increased 19.7 percent year-on-year and all three business units — Continental Engineering Corp (大陸工程), Continental Development Corp (大陸建設) and HDEC Corp (欣達環工) — delivered double-digit percentage revenue growth, it said.
Environmental projects arm HDEC posted the biggest improvement due to construction of the Anping Reclaimed Water Plant and Tongluo Science Park Wastewater Treatment Plant Phase II, it said.
Continental Development’s real-estate development business also fared well, benefiting from profit recognitions from the mixed-use Bountiful Journey (琢豐) project in Taipei’s Zhongshan District (中山), it said.
Continental Engineering’s construction engineering business unit received support from private-sector construction projects, it said.
All three business units have a healthy backlog that would provide the conglomerate with stable sources of income this year and beyond, it added.
BACKLOGS
As of December last year, the backlog for Continental Engineering amounted to NT$74.5 billion, or 3.8 times its revenue last year, it said.
The revenue backlog at Continental Development reached NT$14.6 billion, while contracts on hand at HDEC totaled NT$45 billion, equivalent to 1.5 times and 9.6 times their respective revenue last year, it said.
The domestic unit of the Chinese-owned, Dutch-headquartered chipmaker Nexperia BV will soon be able to produce semiconductors locally within China, according to two company sources. Nexperia is at the center of a global tug-of-war over critical semiconductor technology, with a Dutch court in February ordering a probe into alleged mismanagement at the company. The geopolitical tussle has disrupted supply chains, with some carmakers reportedly forced to cut production due to chip shortages. Local production would allow Nexperia’s domestic arm, Nexperia Semiconductors (China) Ltd (安世半導體中國), to bypass restrictions in place since October on the supply of silicon wafers — etched with tiny components to
Singapore-based ride-hailing and delivery giant Grab Holdings Ltd has applied for regulatory approval to acquire the Taiwan operations of Germany-based Delivery Hero SE's Foodpanda in a deal valued at about US$600 million. Grab submitted the filing to the Fair Trade Commission on Friday last week, with the transaction subject to regulatory review and approval, the company said in a statement yesterday. Its independent governance structure would help foster a healthy and competitive market in Taiwan if the deal is approved, Grab said. Grab, which is listed on the NASDAQ, said in the filing that US-based Uber Technologies Inc holds about 13 percent of
Taiwan is open to joining a global liquefied natural gas (LNG) program if one is created, but on the condition that countries provide delivery even in a scenario where there is a conflict with China, an energy department official said yesterday. While Taiwan’s priority is to have enough LNG at home, the nation is open to exploring potential strategic reserves in other countries such as Japan or South Korea, Energy Administration Deputy Director-General Chen Chung-hsien (陳崇憲) said. While the LNG market does not have a global reserve for emergencies like that of oil, the concept has been raised a few times —
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday received government approval to deploy its advanced 3-nanometer (3nm) process at its second fab currently under construction in Japan, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a news release. The ministry green-lit the plan for the facility in Kumamoto, which is scheduled to start installing equipment and come online in 2028 with a monthly production capacity of 15,000 12-inch wafers, the ministry said. The Department of Investment Review in June 2024 authorized a US$5.26 billion investment for the facility, slated to manufacture 6- to 12nm chips, significantly less advanced than 3nm process. At a meeting with
RSS