Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has approved a capital budget of US$31.28 billion for production expansion to meet long-term development needs during the artificial intelligence (AI) boom.
The company’s board meeting yesterday approved the capital appropriation plan for purposes such as the installation of advanced technology capacity and fab construction, the world’s largest contract chipmaker said in a statement.
At an earnings conference last month, TSMC forecast that its capital expenditure for this year would be at the higher end of the US$52 billion to US$56 billion range it forecast in January in response to robust demand for 5G, AI and high-performance computing applications from clients.
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
The board meeting also approved a plan for the company to spend up to US$20 billion to invest in its wholly owned subsidiary, TSMC Arizona Corp, which is in charge of financial investments.
In addition, TSMC has secured approval from the board meeting to raise its cash dividend payout to NT$7 per share on the earnings in the first quarter of this year, up from NT$6 on the earnings in the fourth quarter of last year.
The NT$7 cash dividend payout came as TSMC reported a fresh quarterly high of NT$22.08 in earnings per share in the first quarter.
Analysts described the higher dividend payout as a move to boost a dividend yield to make its share more attractive at a time when TSMC shares repeatedly hit a new high driven by AI optimism.
Since the beginning of last month, when tech stocks around the world started bouncing back amid concerns over military conflicts in the Middle East, TSMC shares have soared more than 28 percent. The stock closed at NT$2,255 yesterday.
TSMC has scheduled an ex-dividend date for Sept. 16 and the NT$7 payout is slated for Oct. 8.
For companies in Taiwan that issue cash dividends annually, the ex-dividend date is the date on which a stock begins trading after the cash dividend to be paid out on the previous year’s earnings has been deducted.
TSMC started to issue cash dividends quarterly instead of annually in 2019.
TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家), who has 7.45 million TSMC shares, is expected to pocket NT$52.16 million in October.
The National Development Fund under the Executive Yuan, TSMC’s largest shareholder with 1.65 billion shares, is expected to receive NT$11.58 billion.
Cairo’s new monorail slices across the city skyline, running above the familiar chaos of blaring horns and aging buses’ exhaust fumes that mark rush hour below. The US$4.5 billion monorail, opened this month, is among Egypt’s most prominent new transport projects, part of a debt-funded infrastructure drive criticized for sapping state finances while bringing limited benefits to most of the country’s 109 million people. “It feels like you’re in a different country,” said Ramy Sayed, a restaurant manager, aboard a driverless Innovia 300 train. “No noise, no traffic, we’re not used to this.” The eastern line runs 56km from the bustling middle-class
Starlux Airlines Co (星宇航空) today unveiled a long-haul network expansion plan at a shareholders’ meeting in Taipei, including direct flights to Barcelona, Spain, and Zurich, Switzerland, as well as a service connecting Taipei, Sydney and New Zealand. Starlux is to become the first Taiwanese carrier to offer non-stop services to the two European cities, while the inaugural oceanic route is expected to expand transit opportunities within the Australia-New Zealand market, Starlux said. Flight services to Chicago, Dallas, Washington and New York are under evaluation, the airline added. Prior to the shareholders’ meeting, the airline earlier this year announced that it would be
Taiwanese prosecutors suspect that three people successfully smuggled at least one shipment of Nvidia Corp artificial intelligence (AI) chips to China after first exporting them to Japan, people familiar with the matter said. The trio was detained last week by the Keelung District Prosecutors’ Office for allegedly falsifying documents related to exports of Super Micro Computer Inc servers containing advanced Nvidia chips, which the US has barred from sale to China without a license from Washington. The move marked Taiwan’s first public crackdown on AI chip diversion after years of pressure from the US to take a more active role in curtailing
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) employee bonuses are likely to grow more than 30 percent this year, in line with the past few years as the company’s profits continue to set new records, an anonymous source cited TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) as saying yesterday. TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, is committed to taking care of its workers, the source said, citing Wei’s meeting with employees yesterday morning. Wei also expressed gratitude to employees for their contribution to the company’s improving bottom line, the source added. Since 2023, TSMC’s employee bonuses have grown at an annual rate of
RSS