Taiwan’s two major hospitality service providers expressed caution following a noticeable decline in consumer confidence in the wake of US tariff hikes and the local currency’s sharp appreciation.
FDC International Hotels Corp (雲品國際) fared relatively well, with consolidated revenue last month rising 5.49 percent to NT$165 million (US$5.44 million) — the second-highest April performance in its history.
Cumulative revenue in the first four months was a record NT$905 million, edging up 0.61 percent from a year earlier, it said.
Photo: Liu Ping-chuan, Taipei Times
The New Taipei City-based conglomerate attributed the increase to strong domestic demand during the Tomb Sweeping Day and Children’s Day holidays, allowing occupancy rates at flagship properties — the Fleur de Chine Hotel (雲品溫泉酒店) near Nantou County’s Sun Moon Lake (日月潭) and the Palais de Chine Hotel (君品酒店) near Taipei Railway Station — to remain stable.
Enhancements in dining services at the Taipei property’s executive floors led to a 26.1 percent advance in executive floor occupancy, contributing to higher room rates, it added.
Furthermore, FDC last month expanded its food and beverage operations in Taitung, which helped overall revenue, it said.
The group said it is looking to benefit from Mother’s Day tomorrow and Dragon Boat Festival on May 31.
Orders for zongzi (粽子, glutinous rice dumplings) have surpassed its annual target by 60 percent thus far to 80,000 pieces, aided by a surge in corporate demand for zongzi gift boxes, the company said.
FDC is eyeing a further business boost in hotel rooms from the annual Computex Taipei, one of the world’s leading technology exhibitions, later this month.
However, the local currency’s recent sharp appreciation could weigh on Taiwan’s inbound tourism, which would grow more expensive and less competitive to foreign visitors, FDC chairman Emile Sheng (盛治仁) said at a public function earlier this week.
Hotel operators have to respond to worst-case scenarios and seek to differentiate themselves from its rivals, Sheng said.
By contrast, restaurant operator Hi-Lai Foods Co (漢來美食) yesterday posted a revenue of NT$410 million for last month, down 15.77 percent from one month earlier, as consumer confidence softened amid US trade policy uncertainty.
US tariff hikes and local share price corrections took a toll on dining activity, the company said.
However, banquet demand at Grand Hi-Lai Hotel (漢來大飯店) in Taipei’s Nangang District (南港) remained strong, with a utilization rate of nearly 70 percent this year, it said.
Its Roast Duck restaurant saw revenue more than double, while its Cantonese Jade Garden Restaurant has started to generate profit, it said.
The company’s popular Island and Harbour buffet restaurants have fully been booked for Mother’s Day, it said.
Shares of contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) came under pressure yesterday after a report that Apple Inc is looking to shift some orders from the Taiwanese company to Intel Corp. TSMC shares fell NT$55, or 2.4 percent, to close at NT$2,235 on the local main board, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. Despite the losses, TSMC is expected to continue to benefit from sound fundamentals, as it maintains a lead over its peers in high-end process development, analysts said. “The selling was a knee-jerk reaction to an Intel-Apple report over the weekend,” Mega International Investment Services Corp (兆豐國際投顧) analyst Alex Huang
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to remain Apple Inc’s primary chip manufacturing partner despite reports that Apple could shift some orders to Intel Corp, industry experts said yesterday. The comments came after The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Apple and Intel had reached a preliminary agreement following more than a year of negotiations for Intel to manufacture some chips for Apple devices. Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (台灣經濟研究院) economist Arisa Liu (劉佩真) said TSMC’s advanced packaging technologies, including integrated fan-out and chip-on-wafer-on-substrate, remain critical to the performance of Apple’s A-series and M-series chips. She said Intel and Samsung
POWER BUILDUP: Powered by Nvidia’s B200 Blackwell chips, the data center would support MediaTek’s computing power demand and business growth, the company said Smartphone chip designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) yesterday launched a new artificial intelligence (AI) data center with a maximum capacity of 45 megawatts to meet its rising demand for computing power required to develop new advanced chips for AI applications. The company has completed the first-phase computing power buildup at the data center in Miaoli County’s Tongluo Township (銅鑼), providing 15 megawatts of capacity to support its research and development (R&D) capabilities, despite an industrywide shortage of key components, MediaTek said. Supply constraints have plagued a wide range of key components, including memory chips, solid-state drives, power supply units and central
TRANSITION: With the closure, the company would reorganize its Taiwanese unit to a sales and service-focused model, Bridgestone said Bridgestone Corp yesterday announced it would cease manufacturing operations at its tire plant in Hsinchu County’s Hukou Township (湖口), affecting more than 500 workers. Bridgestone Taiwan Co (台灣普利司通) said in a statement that the decision was based on the Tokyo-based tire maker’s adjustments to its global operational strategy and long-term market development considerations. The Taiwanese unit would be reorganized as part of the closure, effective yesterday, and all related production activities would be concluded, the statement said. Under the plan, Bridgestone would continue to deepen its presence in the Taiwanese market, while transitioning to a sales and service-focused business model, it added. The Hsinchu
RSS