INSURERS
Cathay targets foreign bonds
Foreign bonds were the largest investment asset held by Cathay Life Insurance Co (國泰人壽), comprising 61.8 percent of the insurer’s investment portfolio, or NT$4.57 trillion (US$149.1 billion), as of the end of March, with an average return of 3.8 percent, the company said on Friday last week. The life` insurer invests much more in US corporate bonds than in US Treasuries, Cathay Life executive vice president Lin Chao-ting (林昭廷) said. Real-estate assets ranked in second place accounting for 7.6 percent of the insurer’s investment portfolio, with an average return of 2.5 percent, Lin said. Taiwanese bonds made up 7.1 percent, with an average return of 6.1 percent, he added. In the first quarter, Cathay Life’s after-hedging investment yield fell to 2.69 percent from 4.74 percent a year earlier, reflecting elevated hedging costs and fewer capital gains, the insurer said. Recurring yield retained an upward trend, at 3.15 percent in the first quarter, compared with 2.83 percent a year earlier, thanks to the higher interest income, whereas currency hedging costs remained high as the local currency gained strength, it added.
EQUITIES
Foreigners are net buyers
Foreign institutional investors last week bought a net NT$73.53 billion of local shares after buying a net NT$77.88 billion the previous week, the Taiwan Stock Exchange said in a statement yesterday. The top three shares bought by foreign investors last week were Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶) and China Airlines Ltd (中華航空), while the top three sold were United Microelectronics Corp (聯電), EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) and Wistron Corp (緯創), the exchange said. As of Friday last week, foreign investors had bought NT$305.37 billion of local shares since the beginning of this year, while the market capitalization of shares held by foreign investors was NT$21.2 trillion, or 40.97 percent of total market capitalization, it said.
STEELMAKERS
CSC pretax profit falls
China Steel Corp (CSC, 中鋼) yesterday said its pretax profit fell 1 percent to NT$942 million last month from NT$947 million the previous month, due to a reduction in carbon steel sales and a lower gross margin. The Kaohsiung-based firm sold 685,588 tonnes of steel last month, down 15.26 percent from 691,344 tonnes in March, it said in a statement. During the first four months of this year, the steelmaker posted NT$864 million in pretax profit, down 96 percent from the same period last year. Cumulative revenue fell 23 percent year-on-year to NT$123.73 billion during the period, with 25.93 million tonnes of carbon steel sales, it said. CSC said its business in the second quarter could be better than the first quarter due to more working days.
TECHNOLOGY
Baidu to update Ernie Bot
Baidu Inc (百度) founder Robin Li (李彥宏) on Friday last week said that the company would soon launch a new version of the large language model powering its ChatGPT-style service. The model would be used to upgrade the technology behind Baidu’s suite of artificial intelligence (AI) products, including the ChatGPT-like Ernie Bot, Li said. “Large language models will give birth to AI-native applications,” Li said at an event in Beijing, according to a transcript provided by the company. “Baidu will become the first company to rework all of its products. It’s not about integrating or accessing AI. It’s about rework and restructuring.”
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