INVESTMENT
DMG application reviewed
The Investment Commission yesterday said it received applications on Tuesday from DMG Entertainment executive officer Dan Mintz and Carlyle Group for Mintz’s NT$18.3 billion (US$554.51 million) investment in Eastern Broadcasting Co (EBC, 東森電視台). Commission executive secretary Emile Chang (張銘斌) said the commission is reviewing both parties’ applications to see if they need to submit supplementary documents on what would be the largest transaction in the nation’s cable TV sector in two years. Chang said the commission might take longer than two months to review Mintz’s planned investment, given DMG’s close ties with China. The deal has also to be approved by the Fair Trade Commission and the National Communications Commission.
BANKING
Central bank cuts interest
The central bank said it has slashed the interest it pays financial institutions on reserves that originate from passbook deposits and slashed payments on those from time deposits to reflect market interest rates. The central bank is to pay an interest rate of 0.208 percent on reserves from passbook deposits and 0.973 percent on reserves from time deposits, effective today, the bank said in a statement. The rates were down from 0.228 percent and 1.043 percent respectively. The interest is paid to financial institutions’ B accounts, which make up 55 percent of their reserves, while the central bank does not pay interest on A accounts, which make up the rest of the reserves.
ECONOMY
M1B, M2 annual growth falls
Annual growth of the M1B and M2 money supply decreased last month because of slower growth in bank loans and investments, as well as net capital outflows, the central bank said yesterday. M1B, a narrow measure of the amount of money in circulation, last month rose 6.73 percent from a year earlier, while the broader M2 monetary measurement — which includes M1B, time deposits, foreign currency deposits and mutual funds — increased 6.39 percent, the bank said in its monthly report. That compares with annual growth rates of M1B and M2 in October of 6.75 percent and 6.58 percent respectively. For the first 11 months, the average annual growth rates of M1B and M2 were 6.07 percent and 6.4 percent respectively, the bank said.
FOOD & BEVERAGE
Mr Onion shares surge
Mr Onion (天蔥國際) shares yesterday surged 41.5 percent to NT$92 during the firm’s debut on the Taipei Exchange from an initial public offering price of NT$65. Shares of the steak and pasta restaurant chain operator traded at NT$93.65 on Wednesday on the Emerging Stock Market, a preparatory board for the nation’s two main bourses. The company announced plans to introduce Mrs Mi (米太太) Shanghai cuisine restaurants to Taiwan in the second quarter next year through a partnership with an Australia-based peer.
SMARTPHONES
HTC touts high-end One M10
Smartphone maker HTC Corp (宏達電) yesterday said in a statement that it plans to launch its next flagship model, One M10, next year to penetrate the high-end market. HTC said it would pay close attention to the low-end and mid-range model markets, indicating that it would continue to have a presence in those markets.
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
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
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
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