EQUITIES
Foreign firms buy NT$29.9bn
Foreign institutional investors last week bought a net NT$29.89 billion (US$979.1 million) of local shares after buying a net NT$46.83 billion the previous week, the Taiwan Stock Exchange said in a statement yesterday. The top three shares bought by foreign investors last week were E.Sun Financial Holding Co (玉山金控), Innolux Corp (群創) and Shin Kong Financial Holding Co (新光金控), while the top three sold by foreign investors were Walsin Lihwa Corp (華新麗華), Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp (陽明海運) and Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電), the exchange said. As of Friday last week, foreign investors had bought NT$224.19 billion of local shares since the beginning of this year, while the market capitalization of the shares held by foreign investors was NT$20.27 trillion, or 40.76 percent of total market capitalization, it said.
INCOME
Listed firms’ income falls
The 899 Taiwanese and 77 overseas companies with primary listings on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) reported combined pretax income of NT$4.75 trillion for last year, down 5.53 percent from a year earlier, the exchange said yesterday. The TWSE-listed firms generated NT$40.22 trillion in combined revenue, up 5.15 percent year-on-year, it said in a statement. Listed companies that saw their profit rise last year were mainly those in the semiconductor, shipping and electronic components sectors, it said. However, companies in the financial services, optoelectronics and plastics sectors reported declining profit last year due to negative macroeconomic conditions, it added.
ELECTRONICS
HTC revenue rises
HTC Corp (宏達電) yesterday reported consolidated revenue exceeded NT$500 million last month for the first time since December last year. Revenue rose 102.67 percent month-on-month to NT$509.28 million, the company said. Last month’s figure was 19.72 percent higher than a year earlier, it said. Analysts attributed the increase in sales last month to the launch of virtual reality headset Vive XR Elite in late February, as HTC has diversified its product mix and developed its virtual reality business, taking pressure off its lackluster smartphone sales. First-quarter revenue fell 11.67 percent year-on-year to NT$975.32 million, company data showed.
ELECTRONICS
Ample’s sales spike
Ample Electronic Technology Co (勤凱科技) yesterday said revenue last month rose 9.5 percent month-on-month to NT$77.47 billion, the highest in seven months, due to improving demand. Ample supplies conductive paste to passive component makers Yageo Corp (國巨) and Walsin Lihwa Corp (華新麗華). Ample said it has received rush orders, indicating that customers have reduced inventory to healthy levels. It also drove down its days of inventory to a reasonable level and said it is cautiously optimistic about its business outlook.
TECHNOLOGY
E Ink touts new product
E Ink Holdings Inc (元太科技) yesterday said it is to introduce new colored e-paper display technology, E Ink Spectra 6, to make e-paper displays used in indoor signage to replace printed posters. The new technology is to enter mass production next year, the company said in a statement. E Ink is to showcase the technology for the first time at the annual Touch Taiwan conference at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center from April 19 to 21.
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