EQUITIES
Foreigners buy NT$1.93bn
Foreign institutional investors last week bought a net NT$1.93 billion (US$62.2 million) of local shares after buying a net NT$64.94 billion the previous week, the Taiwan Stock Exchange said in a statement yesterday. The top three shares bought by foreign investors last week were Innolux Corp (群創), AUO Corp (友達) and Taiwan Glass Industry Corp (台灣玻璃), while the top three sold were Acer Inc (宏碁), United Microelectronics Corp (聯電) and Mega Financial Holding Co (兆豐金控), the exchange said. As of Friday last week, foreign investors had bought NT$434.52 billion of local shares since the beginning of this year, while the market capitalization of shares held by foreign investors was NT$22.07 trillion, or 40.92 percent of total market capitalization, it said. Yesterday, foreign institutional investors sold a net NT$25.16 billion of shares, the highest since March 14, the exchange’s data showed.
TECHNOLOGY
China phone shipments rise
China’s smartphone shipments jumped 22.6 percent last month, accelerating sharply from previous months in a positive sign for the country’s struggling mobile device industry. As the world’s biggest smartphone market, China accounts for much of the global industry’s slowdown, and IDC Corp this month forecast it to be the biggest drag on global shipments. Smartphone makers shipped 25.2 million handsets last month, marking a rise of more than 4 million units compared with the same period a year earlier, the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology said. The domestic market has been stuck in a protracted malaise, and even with the latest growth, shipments in the first five months fell 2.6 percent year-on-year, it said.
LIABILITIES
Debt hits three-month low
The average national debt shouldered by Taiwanese has dropped to its lowest level in the past three months, Ministry of Finance statistics show. On June 17, national debt per person was about NT$260,000 (US$8,383), the same level as when statistics were last released by the ministry on March 17. The amount peaked at NT$272,000 on April 14 and stayed unchanged for more than a month, before gradually lowering to the current level, ministry data showed. The ministry said the fall was likely due to individuals and businesses paying income tax last month, which enabled the ministry to repay a debt of NT$111 billion this month, along with other short-term debts in advance.
AVIATION
EVA ranked world No. 9
EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) ranked ninth in this year’s list of the world’s best airlines released last week by Skytrax, a UK-based aviation research agency. The carrier ranked first in several subcategories, including the World’s Best Premium Economy Class Airlines, the World’s Best Premium Economy Class Airline Catering and the Best Premium Economy Class Airlines in Asia. Singapore Airlines Ltd was named Airline of the Year, with Qatar Airways ranked second and All Nippon Airways Co in third place, out of 330 airlines included in the survey, Skytrax said. Emirates claimed fourth place, while Japan Airlines Co ranked No. 5, it said. Taiwan’s Starlux Airlines Co (星宇航空) and China Airlines Ltd (中華航空) ranked 39th and 41st respectively.
The Eurovision Song Contest has seen a surge in punter interest at the bookmakers, becoming a major betting event, experts said ahead of last night’s giant glamfest in Basel. “Eurovision has quietly become one of the biggest betting events of the year,” said Tomi Huttunen, senior manager of the Online Computer Finland (OCS) betting and casino platform. Betting sites have long been used to gauge which way voters might be leaning ahead of the world’s biggest televised live music event. However, bookmakers highlight a huge increase in engagement in recent years — and this year in particular. “We’ve already passed 2023’s total activity and
BIG BUCKS: Chairman Wei is expected to receive NT$34.12 million on a proposed NT$5 cash dividend plan, while the National Development Fund would get NT$8.27 billion Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday announced that its board of directors approved US$15.25 billion in capital appropriations for long-term expansion to meet growing demand. The funds are to be used for installing advanced technology and packaging capacity, expanding mature and specialty technology, and constructing fabs with facility systems, TSMC said in a statement. The board also approved a proposal to distribute a NT$5 cash dividend per share, based on first-quarter earnings per share of NT$13.94, it said. That surpasses the NT$4.50 dividend for the fourth quarter of last year. TSMC has said that while it is eager
‘IMMENSE SWAY’: The top 50 companies, based on market cap, shape everything from technology to consumer trends, advisory firm Visual Capitalist said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) was ranked the 10th-most valuable company globally this year, market information advisory firm Visual Capitalist said. TSMC sat on a market cap of about US$915 billion as of Monday last week, making it the 10th-most valuable company in the world and No. 1 in Asia, the publisher said in its “50 Most Valuable Companies in the World” list. Visual Capitalist described TSMC as the world’s largest dedicated semiconductor foundry operator that rolls out chips for major tech names such as US consumer electronics brand Apple Inc, and artificial intelligence (AI) chip designers Nvidia Corp and Advanced
Pegatron Corp (和碩), an iPhone assembler for Apple Inc, is to spend NT$5.64 billion (US$186.82 million) to acquire HTC Corp’s (宏達電) factories in Taoyuan and invest NT$578.57 million in its India subsidiary to expand manufacturing capacity, after its board approved the plans on Wednesday. The Taoyuan factories would expand production of consumer electronics, and communication and computing devices, while the India investment would boost production of communications devices and possibly automotive electronics later, a Pegatron official told the Taipei Times by telephone yesterday. Pegatron expects to complete the Taoyuan factory transaction in the third quarter, said the official, who declined to be
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