BenQ BM Holding Cayman Corp (BBHC, 明基醫院集團) plans to list its shares in Hong Kong, its parent company Qisda Corp (佳世達) said on Thursday, as it aims to expand the group’s medical service business and grow its revenue and profits.
Qisda’s board of directors on Thursday green-lighted BBHC’s initial public offering (IPO) proposal for the Hong Kong stock exchange’s main board, which is subject to shareholder and regulatory approval. An extraordinary shareholders’ meeting is to take place on March 14, the company said in a statement, without disclosing how much it is seeking to raise from the IPO.
The company’s medical operations have seen stable growth in recent years thanks to sales contributions from hospitals and its medical supply business, with product lines including dialyzers, ultrasound equipment and medical consumables.
Photo: Chen Mei-ying, Taipei Times
BBHC is the largest business unit among Qisda’s medical operations compared with a dozen of other units, the company said.
In China, BBHC operates Nanjing BenQ Medical Center (南京明基醫院) and Suzhou BenQ Medical Center (蘇州明基醫院) in Jiangsu Province, and invests in Guigang Donghui Hospital (貴港東暉醫院) in Guangxi Province, it said.
“With the Hong Kong listing, BBHC can raise funds through multiple channels to strengthen its working capital and optimize its financial structure,” Qisda said. “This will help it further expand the scale of hospitals, increase the number of beds, and introduce special medical teams and equipment, among others.”
FINANCIAL HEALTH
The IPO is expected to increase BBHC’s industry visibility and attract more talent, Qisda said.
It is also conducive to enhancing the group’s financial health and the interests of shareholders, it said.
Qisda, whose business operations includes information technology and medical services, smart business solutions and networking and communications applications, reported that its consolidated revenue last year fell 15 percent year-on-year to NT$203.9 billion (US$6.485 billion).
Merida Industry Co (美利達) has seen signs of recovery in the US and European markets this year, as customers are gradually depleting their inventories, the bicycle maker told shareholders yesterday. Given robust growth in new orders at its Taiwanese factory, coupled with its subsidiaries’ improving performance, Merida said it remains confident about the bicycle market’s prospects and expects steady growth in its core business this year. CAUTION ON CHINA However, the company must handle the Chinese market with great caution, as sales of road bikes there have declined significantly, affecting its revenue and profitability, Merida said in a statement, adding that it would
RISING: Strong exports, and life insurance companies’ efforts to manage currency risks indicates the NT dollar would eventually pass the 29 level, an expert said The New Taiwan dollar yesterday rallied to its strongest in three years amid inflows to the nation’s stock market and broad-based weakness in the US dollar. Exporter sales of the US currency and a repatriation of funds from local asset managers also played a role, said two traders, who asked not to be identified as they were not authorized to speak publicly. State-owned banks were seen buying the greenback yesterday, but only at a moderate scale, the traders said. The local currency gained 0.77 percent, outperforming almost all of its Asian peers, to close at NT$29.165 per US dollar in Taipei trading yesterday. The
RECORD LOW: Global firms’ increased inventories, tariff disputes not yet impacting Taiwan and new graduates not yet entering the market contributed to the decrease Taiwan’s unemployment rate last month dropped to 3.3 percent, the lowest for the month in 25 years, as strong exports and resilient domestic demand boosted hiring across various sectors, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. After seasonal adjustments, the jobless rate eased to 3.34 percent, the best performance in 24 years, suggesting a stable labor market, although a mild increase is expected with the graduation season from this month through August, the statistics agency said. “Potential shocks from tariff disputes between the US and China have yet to affect Taiwan’s job market,” Census Department Deputy Director Tan Wen-ling
UNCERTAINTIES: The world’s biggest chip packager and tester is closely monitoring the US’ tariff policy before making any capacity adjustments, a company official said ASE Technology Holding Inc (日月光投控), the world’s biggest chip packager and tester, yesterday said it is cautiously evaluating new advanced packaging capacity expansion in the US in response to customers’ requests amid uncertainties about the US’ tariff policy. Compared with its semiconductor peers, ASE has been relatively prudent about building new capacity in the US. However, the company is adjusting its global manufacturing footprint expansion after US President Donald Trump announced “reciprocal” tariffs in April, and new import duties targeting semiconductors and other items that are vital to national security. ASE subsidiary Siliconware Precision Industries Co (SPIL, 矽品精密) is participating in Nvidia