Housing agency Hiyes International Co (海悅國際開發) and elevator maker Golden Friends Corp (崇友實業) are expecting stable business growth this year, as the local property market steadily emerges from a slowdown induced by economic uncertainty and tight monetary policy.
Hiyes said business visibility is better this quarter from a year earlier, judging by agency cases and construction revenue.
Things might be quieter during the second quarter of the year, as developers would seek to digest unsold houses and launch major presale projects in the third and fourth quarters that would generate billions of revenue, it said.
Photo: CNA
Hiyes said it is cautiously assessing whether to undertake urban renewal projects in Taipei and New Taipei City in a bid to diversify its income sources and strengthen its competitive edge.
The company in December last year recognized construction revenue of NT$2.47 billion (US$78.02 million) from a mixed-use complex in Taichung, which helped boost net income to NT$1.66 billion for the whole of last year, or earnings per share of NT$13.86.
The results represent a 77.16 percent improvement from 2022 on the back of strong demand after the government in August last year introduced interest subsidies and other favorable lending terms for first-home purchases regardless of the age of the buyer.
Hiyes last week said that it plans to distribute a NT$7 per share in cash dividend and another NT$2 stock dividend from last year’s earnings, equivalent to a payout ratio of 64.9 percent.
Elevator maker Golden Friends last week posted record-high earnings per share of NT$5.06 for last year, up 5.57 percent from a year earlier, thanks to stable demand, maintenance requirements and the divestment of an office building in Kaohsiung.
Revenue last year grew 11.16 percent to NT$5.27 billion, the company said, due to more elevator demand from new residential complexes and office buildings.
The company has proposed distributing a NT$4 per share cash dividend from last year’s earnings, indicating a payout ratio of 80 percent.
The company said it has a guarded, but optimistic view for this year with ample orders on hand that would provide profit momentum.
The company said that it is to introduce artificial intelligence and environment-friendly technologies when developing new elevators.
CAUTIOUS RECOVERY: While the manufacturing sector returned to growth amid the US-China trade truce, firms remain wary as uncertainty clouds the outlook, the CIER said The local manufacturing sector returned to expansion last month, as the official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) rose 2.1 points to 51.0, driven by a temporary easing in US-China trade tensions, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. The PMI gauges the health of the manufacturing industry, with readings above 50 indicating expansion and those below 50 signaling contraction. “Firms are not as pessimistic as they were in April, but they remain far from optimistic,” CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said at a news conference. The full impact of US tariff decisions is unlikely to become clear until later this month
GROWING CONCERN: Some senior Trump administration officials opposed the UAE expansion over fears that another TSMC project could jeopardize its US investment Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is evaluating building an advanced production facility in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and has discussed the possibility with officials in US President Donald Trump’s administration, people familiar with the matter said, in a potentially major bet on the Middle East that would only come to fruition with Washington’s approval. The company has had multiple meetings in the past few months with US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and officials from MGX, an influential investment vehicle overseen by the UAE president’s brother, the people said. The conversations are a continuation of talks that
CHIP DUTIES: TSMC said it voiced its concerns to Washington about tariffs, telling the US commerce department that it wants ‘fair treatment’ to protect its competitiveness Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday reiterated robust business prospects for this year as strong artificial intelligence (AI) chip demand from Nvidia Corp and other customers would absorb the impacts of US tariffs. “The impact of tariffs would be indirect, as the custom tax is the importers’ responsibility, not the exporters,” TSMC chairman and chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said at the chipmaker’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Hsinchu City. TSMC’s business could be affected if people become reluctant to buy electronics due to inflated prices, Wei said. In addition, the chipmaker has voiced its concern to the US Department of Commerce
Popular vape brands such as Geek Bar might get more expensive in the US — if you can find them at all. Shipments of vapes from China to the US ground to a near halt last month from a year ago, official data showed, hit by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs and a crackdown on unauthorized e-cigarettes in the world’s biggest market for smoking alternatives. That includes Geek Bar, a brand of flavored vapes that is not authorized to sell in the US, but which had been widely available due to porous import controls. One retailer, who asked not to be named, because
RSS