TAIEX falls 1%, tracking global bourses
TAIEX falls 1%, tracking global boursesPANIC SELLOFFS: The local markets are susceptible to additional corrections in the near term, unless US and European bourses stabilize first, a securities analyst saidBy Crystal Hsu / Staff reporterThe TAIEX yesterday shed 130.84 points, or 1.02 percent, to close at 12,662.91, taking cues from global bourses overnight as France and Germany announced four-week lockdowns to contain rising COVID-19 cases. A man looks at an electronic stock board at a brokerage firm in Taipei yesterday. The TAIEX fell 1.02 percent to close at 12,662.91 points yesterday, as rising COVID-19 infections, and tougher lockdowns in Europe and the US added to worries about the economic hit from the pandemic. The National Stabilization Fund Committee on Oct. 12 pulled the NT$500 billion (US$17.29 billion) fund from the TAIEX, saying that it had achieved its goal of stabilizing the TAIEX, which had rebounded from March lows. Minister of Finance Su Jain-rong attends a meeting of the legislature’s Finance Committee in Taipei yesterday.
Source:Taipei Times
October 29, 2020 15:56 UTC
AUO makes a profit after eight quarters in the red
That translated into earnings per share of NT$0.3, versus minus-NT$0.31 a quarter earlier and minus-NT$0.41 a year earlier. While unit shipments are expected to slide, factory utilization should remain high, similar to last quarter’s 95 percent, it added. “The industry’s seasonal cycles this year have been upended by the pandemic,” AUO chairman Paul Peng (彭雙浪) told investors yesterday. Notebook computer shipments last quarter rose 35 percent and whole-year shipments are likely to register double-digit percentage growth, the company said. The company posted a net loss of NT$3.89 billion in the third quarter last year.
Source:Taipei Times
October 29, 2020 15:56 UTC
Delta Electronics predicts boom in electric vehicles
“Right now, electric vehicles are at about 2 percent saturation, but it might reach 10 to 12 percent by 2030,” Delta chairman Yancey Hai (海英俊) told an investors’ conference. “Price is coming down and charging stations are becoming more widespread.”Delta provides direct current inverters, onboard chargers, charging stations and electric motors for electric vehicles. Delta Electronics Co chairman Yancey Hai speaks at an investors’ conference in Taipei yesterday. Sales in the automation segment were NT$9.7 billion, up 2 percent year-on-year, and revenue in the infrastructure segment was NT$23.1 billion, down 6 percent, data showed. However, the infrastructure segment saw profit grow by 727 percent due to “good control of raw material prices,” Delta’s investor relations officer Rodney Liu (劉致遠) said.
Source:Taipei Times
October 29, 2020 15:56 UTC
Yang Ming to place profit before fleet
Yang Ming to place profit before fleetBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterYang Ming Marine Transport Corp (陽明海運) plans to prioritize boosting its profitability over expanding its fleet size, chairman and CEO Cheng Chen-mount (鄭貞茂) said yesterday, adding that the firm would seek to attract foreign institutional investors with healthy financial portfolios. Yang Ming has secured a 2.6 percent share of the world’s liner fleet, data compiled by Alphaliner, a France-based maritime consultant, showed. Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp chairman and CEO Cheng Chen-mount speaks at an investors’ conference in Taipei yesterday. The shipper holds an upbeat outlook for this quarter given excess demand in the market, Yang Ming spokesperson Shih Mei-chi (史美琦) said. The freight rates for routes from Asia to the US are expected to remain high until the Lunar New Year holiday next year, he said.
Source:Taipei Times
October 29, 2020 15:56 UTC
VP Lai visits Lions before start of the Taiwan Series
VP Lai visits Lions before start of the Taiwan SeriesBy Jason Pan / Staff reporterVice President William Lai yesterday visited a Uni-President Lions practice at the Tainan Municipal Stadium, as the team prepare for tomorrow’s Taiwan Series opener against the CTBC Brothers in Taichung. The former Tainan mayor gave the Lions a pineapple, a symbol of prosperity and good fortune, to wish the team success in the best-of-seven series. Well-known as a knowledgeable baseball fan, Lai is open about his avid support for the Tainan-based Lions, often attending their games. Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei TimesThis year’s series features two rookie managers going head-to-head: Lin Yue-ping of the Lions and Chiu Chang-jung of the Brothers. The Lions are to host the next three games of the series on Tuesday, Wednesday and, if necessary, Thursday in Tainan, all with 6:30pm start times.
Source:Taipei Times
October 29, 2020 15:56 UTC
UMC’s net profit best in 14 years
UMC’s net profit best in 14 yearsBy Lisa Wang / Staff ReporterUnited Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 4 contract chipmaker, yesterday posted its strongest quarterly net profit in 14 years as work-from-home and remote-schooling trends continued to drive demand for power management chips used in smartphones and high-speed interface controllers. Net profit last quarter soared 36.37 percent to NT$9.11 billion (US$315.07 million) from NT$6.68 billion in the second quarter. UMC expects this to significantly increase demand for 28-nanometer chips this quarter, he added. Every 1 percent appreciation in the NT dollar reduces UMC’s gross margin by 0.5 percentage points, the chipmaker said.
Source:Taipei Times
October 29, 2020 15:56 UTC
KMT, groups to protest ractopamine rule change
KMT, groups to protest ractopamine rule changeBy Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporterThe Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) plans on Nov. 22 to join groups in protesting the government’s decision to allow the importation of US pork containing traces of ractopamine, KMT Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) said yesterday. The policy “lacks not only supporting administrative actions, but also a complete risk assessment,” Chiang said at a weekly KMT Central Standing Committee meeting in Taipei. “It directly affects the food safety environment of people.”Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei City councilors yesterday protest against Democratic Progressive Party councilors for boycotting a deliberation of proposed amendments to the Taipei City Self-Governing Regulations for Food Safety. Another KMT proposal requesting that Tsai apologize and the government make public its process of negotiating with the US to allow imports of pork containing ractopamine was also voted down 58-38. Once details of the demonstration are confirmed, the KMT would call on its supporters to join the protest and “block the incorrect policy together,” he said.
Source:Taipei Times
October 28, 2020 15:56 UTC
Government to issue NT$30bn in bonds for CAA fund
Government to issue NT$30bn in bonds for CAA fundBy Shelley Shan / Staff reporterGovernment bonds would be issued to increase the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) Operating Fund by NT$30 billion (US$1.04 billion), CAA Director-General Lin Kuo-hsien (林國顯) confirmed yesterday. Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) Director-General Lin Kuo-hsien presents CAA and Taoyuan International Airport Corp budget plans for review by the Legislative Yuan’s Transportation Committee in Taipei yesterday. Lin said that the CAA and TIAC have given excessively rosy forecasts for the air transport market in the next fiscal year. This would be the first time in 48 years that the government has issued bonds to raise money for the CAA Operating Fund. The decline in passengers accessing the airport also has affected the Tourism Development Fund, which is partially funded by airport service fees.
Source:Taipei Times
October 28, 2020 15:56 UTC
Virus Outbreak: Ministry to hold Webinars on virus
Virus Outbreak: Ministry to hold Webinars on virusBy Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporterThe Ministry of Education is to hold two Webinars next month to explore how young people from around the world can collaborate on disease prevention during the COVID-19 crisis. The Webinars are to feature Minister Without Portfolio Audrey Tang (唐鳳) and 18-year-old Web developer Avi Schiffmann. Registration is required for the Webinars, which are to be livestreamed, organizers said, adding that attendees would be welcome to ask questions during the discussions. For his contributions, Schiffmann was named this year’s Webby Person of the Year and selected as one of Wired magazine’s Wired25 honorees, the ministry said. The Webinars aim to help young people gain a more comprehensive understanding of the pandemic, the ministry said.
Source:Taipei Times
October 28, 2020 15:56 UTC
Presale and new housing dip slightly amid upward trend
A recovery was previously evident in commercial and land deals, but the data now supports that the upward trend has spread to residential properties, especially presale projects. “The local property market has seen signs of recovery judging by the price hikes and stable volume,” the report said. Presale projects and new housing nationwide averaged NT$303,000 per ping (3.3m2) between July and September, rising 1.98 percent from the second quarter, it said. Average housing prices in Taoyuan stood at NT$26,600 per ping, virtually flat from a quarter earlier, while the 30-day sales rate rose to 11.12 percent and the transaction index advanced to 463.74, it said. In Tainan, presale and new housing prices increased 2.7 percent to NT$24,900 per ping, while prices edged up 0.82 percent in Kaohsiung to NT$239,000 per ping, it said.
Source:Taipei Times
October 28, 2020 15:56 UTC
NCC to question CTi again over license issue
NCC to question CTi again over license issueBy Shelley Shan / Staff reporterCTi News’ management and stakeholders would be asked to visit the National Communications Commission (NCC) again to answer questions about its license renewal application, as the commissioners need more evidence to make a decision on the case, an NCC official said yesterday. NCC Department of Broadcasting and Content Affairs Director Huang Wen-che (黃文哲) said that CTi News’ attorney asked to examine more evidence. National Communications Commission Department of Broadcasting and Content Affairs Director Huang Wen-che attends an administrative hearing in Taipei on Monday to review CTi News’ operating license renewal application. “We are likely to invite the CTi management to attend the commissioners’ weekly meeting as early as next week. NCC Vice Chairman and spokesman Wong Po-tsung (翁柏宗) said that the commission has no intention of holding another administrative or public hearing about CTi News’ license renewal at this point.
Source:Taipei Times
October 28, 2020 15:56 UTC
Nantou charges suspect in murder of four-year-old
Nantou charges suspect in murder of four-year-oldBy Chen Feng-li and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe Nantou District Prosecutors’ Office on Monday charged a suspect in the killing of a four-year-old girl and asked a court to sentence him to life in prison or death. The girl’s mother, surnamed Peng (彭), 29, and her boyfriend, surnamed Chen (陳), 37, were detained by police on Sept. 4 on suspicion of murder and abandonment of a corpse. A law enforcement officer in Nantou County, right, on Sept. 4 escorts a man, surnamed Chen, who was on Monday charged with killing the four-year-old daughter of his girlfriend. Photo copied by Liu Pin-chuan, Taipei TimesPolice found bruises and other injuries on the girl’s body, and an autopsy found amphetamines and Rohypnol, a tranquilizer, in her system. An autopsy on the girl’s body revealed damage to the membrane lining the brain, they said.
Source:Taipei Times
October 28, 2020 15:56 UTC
EDITORIAL: A good and bad week for marriage
EDITORIAL: A good and bad week for marriageThis week has been positive and negative regarding marriage in Taiwan. The military’s annual joint wedding ceremonies scheduled for Friday are to include two same-sex couples — a first for Taiwan since same-sex marriage was legalized in May last year. Even though many Taiwanese soldiers remain afraid to come out to their peers, and discrimination undoubtedly exists, at least the military establishment is accepting about same-sex marriage. However, even with the right to marry, it is not easy to maintain a marriage. As more women take to Internet forums to complain, a quick search shows countless posts made in the past few months.
Source:Taipei Times
October 27, 2020 16:07 UTC
Hon Hai to set up a joint fund with Chinese firm
Hon Hai to set up a joint fund with Chinese firmBy Angelica Oung / Staff reporterHon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday said that it has signed a strategic partnership contract with China Insurance Investment Co (中保投資) to create a venture capital fund valued at 10 billion yuan (US$1.49 billion), targeting investments in emerging technology. The fund’s size would gradually grow to 20 billion yuan, Hon Hai said in a statement. Hon Hai Precision Industry Co chairman Young Liu takes part in a news conference on the company’s “Technology Day” on Oct. 16 to introduce its electric-vehicle platform. The fund would be a “mutually beneficial collaboration that combines quality industry with long-term capital,” Hon Hai chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) said in the statement. The strategic partnership with China Insurance Investment and its cooperation in high-tech investments would create a win-win situation for both sides, Hon Hai said.
Source:Taipei Times
October 27, 2020 15:56 UTC
CTBC joins global carbon accounting partnership
CTBC joins global carbon accounting partnershipStaff writerCTBC Financial Holding Co (中信金控) has signed on to the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF), becoming Taiwan’s first financial institution to join the industry-led initiative. “Urgent solutions are required to address the risks brought by climate change,” CTBC Financial president Daniel Wu (吳一揆) said in a news release on Monday. The bank on Monday said that it became Taiwan’s first financial institution to join the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials initiative. The Science Based Targets initiative has officially endorsed the PCAF’s methodology as a universal method for calculating and disclosing financial products’ greenhouse gas emissions. In the past two years, CTBC Financial and its subsidiaries have voluntarily joined a raft of international sustainability initiatives.
Source:Taipei Times
October 27, 2020 15:56 UTC