Business and Finance

Analysts expect financial sector boost

REPATRIATION: KGI Securities said an inflow of NT$483.7bn could generate NT$2.9bn in wealth management fees. Yuanta Securities named some banks that might benefit

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 08, 2019
By: Chen Cheng-hui  /  Staff reporter

Wednesday’s passage of a special bill aimed at encouraging the repatriation of funds from abroad is expected to benefit the financial sector, in addition to boosting domestic investment and consumption, analysts said.

Based on research conducted by analysts at KGI Securities Investment Advisory Co (凱基投顧) and Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co (元大投顧), repatriated funds would boost wealth management business at banks, while the lower tax rates for such funds would accelerate the pace of money flows and form a substantial support for the stock market, based on US experience.

The bill would result in an average of about NT$483.7 billion (US$15.55 billion) in funds flowing into Taiwan, which is forecast to generate NT$2.9 billion in wealth management fee income per year and about 1 percent earnings contribution to all banks, KGI said.

The Ministry of Finance has estimated capital inflows of NT$130 billion to NT$890 billion a year after the new law takes effect later this year, KGI said.    [FULL  STORY]

Housing transactions in 6 major cities down month-on-month

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/07/06
By: Wei Shu and Frances Huan

Taipei, July 6 (CNA) Transactions in residential and commercial properties in Taiwan's six special municipalities in June fell more than 10 percent from the previous month in the wake of a relatively high comparison base in the previous month, as well as caution over the economy, according to local government land departments.

In addition, due to intense campaigns by presidential contenders from both the ruling Democratic Progressive Party and the opposition Kuomintang for the 2020 presidential election, many potential home buyers retreated from the market amid fear of increasing political uncertainty, market analysts said.

Data compiled by local governments on transactions of homes, shops and offices in Taipei, New Taipei, Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung shows that transactions totaled 19,127 units in June, down 13 percent from a month earlier. The June figure, however, was up 2.0 percent from a year earlier.

In May, sales of residential and commercial properties dropped 14.9 percent from a month earlier in the wake of deferred buying from the first quarter.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei conference shows fun returning to bitcoin

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 07, 2019
By: Bloomberg

As little as six months ago, bitcoin was moribund, with prices languishing at one-fifth of their record high, disappointing a mass of cryptocurrency enthusiasts who had grown use to extreme — and often upward — moves in the virtual currency.

However, the Asia Blockchain Summit at the Taipei Marriott Hotel on Tuesdday and Wednesday highlighted how volatility is back, reviving the excitement around crypto trading.

“Bitcoin is fun, but it’s a hell of a lot more fun at 100 times leverage,” said Arthur Hayes, the founder and chief executive officer of BitMEX. “That’s what people want to see in crypto, they want that high volatility.”

“At the end of the day, we’re all in the entertainment business of traders,” Hayes said.
[FULL  STORY]

Taiwan is a model of Internet governance: AIT Director

The island was the first to realize the risks of 5G from China: Christensen

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/07/05
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

AIT Director Brent Christensen speaking in Taipei Friday (July 5). (By Central News Agency)

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taiwan is a model worth emulating for its cyber defense and anti-hacking capabilities, American Institute in Taiwan Director Brent Christensen said Friday (July 5).

Speaking at the Taiwan Internet Governance Forum, the United States chief representative pointed out how Taiwan realized five years ago how basic telecom equipment from China harbored potential security risks, the Central News Agency reported.

With 5G playing a vital role in the development of Artificial Intelligence and self-driving cars, the U.S. and its allies were worried that if it controlled the basic technology, China could extract key data and even provoke paralysis on the Internet, Christensen said.

Taiwan was the first to understand the nature of the threat, banning the use of basic telecom equipment from China in a move which deserved to be imitated in the present, the AIT director added.    [FULL  STORY]

HTC’s June sales up over 93% from May on new phone launch

Focus aiwan
Date: 2019/07/05
By: Jeffrey Wu and Frances Huang

Taipei, July 5 (CNA) HTC Corp., a Taiwan-based smartphone brand, said sales in June rose more than 90 percent from the previous month through the launch of new mid-range models.

HTC posted consolidated sales of NT$1.46 billion (US$46.95 million) in June, which were up 93.89 percent from a month earlier but still down 34.46 percent from a year earlier.

The high month-on-month increase in sales largely reflected the smartphone brand's unveiling of its latest two mid-range smartphone models — the U19e and Desire 19+ — which carry starting price tags of NT$14,900 and NT$9,900, respectively.

The two models were the first new smartphones HTC has introduced this year.   [FULL  STORY]

Fruit, vegetable prices raise CPI

PLUM RAINS: Wholesale fruit prices totaled NT$40.1 per kilogram on average last month, the highest level in 28 months, but they have eased to NT$36.1 this week

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 06, 2019
By: Kao Shih-ching  /  Staff reporter

The consumer price index (CPI) last month rose 0.86 percent year-on-year as heavy rainfall disrupted vegetable and fruit supplies and pushed up prices, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday.

Food costs, which account for 25 percent of the inflation gauge, gained 3.36 percent year-on-year, the highest since a 4.45 percent increase in December 2016, DGBAS Senior Executive Officer Chiou Shwu-chwen (邱淑純) told a news conference in Taipei.

“The plum rain season developed into heavy rain after June 10 and harmed agricultural harvests, driving up vegetable and fruit prices 20.03 percent and 14.73 percent respectively,” Chiou said.

Wholesale fruit prices totaled NT$40.1 per kilogram on average, the highest level in 28 months, but they have eased to NT$36.1 this week, Chiou said.    [FULL STORY]

Taiwan Economic Minister questions US charge of ‘washing’ steel in Vietnam to avoid duties

Minister Shen Jong-chin denies Taiwan engages in such practices and vowed to investigate the matter

Taiwan News
Date:2019/07/04
By: Duncan DeAeth, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – On July 2, the U.S. Commerce Department announced that it would begin implementing tariffs on certain Vietnamese steel products with duties of up to 456 percent.

The U.S. Commerce Department alleges that companies in South Korea and Taiwan have been using partners to process and treat steel in Vietnam, as a means of avoiding U.S. anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties. However, Taiwan’s Minister of Economic Affairs, Shen Jong-chin (沈榮津), has questioned the veracity of the allegations.

Reuters reports that after duties were imposed on Taiwan and South Korean steel products in late 2015 and early 2016, that steel products shipped to the U.S. from Vietnam after the duties were levied, increased substantially.

The Commerce Department’s press release states that inspectors discovered corrosion resistant and cold-rolled steel products produced in Vietnam which contain an interior layer of steel produced in either South Korea or Taiwan.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan’s economics ministry approves three firms’ investments

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/07/04
By: Tsai Peng-min and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, July 4 (CNA) The Ministry of Economic Affairs said Thursday that it has approved applications from Hannstar Display Corp. and two unnamed firms to invest in Taiwan under a plan launched by the government to encourage overseas Taiwanese businesses to invest at home.


The three companies are estimated to invest more than NT$22.8 billion (US$748 million), and create about 2,255 new jobs, according to the ministry.

Applications from 84 companies, including the latest three, have been approved since the program was launched in January, and the more than NT$434.6 billion in investments by the companies are expected to create around 39,110 new jobs, the MOEA said.

Among the three is an unnamed linear motion components manufacturer which plans to inject more than NT$7.2 billion to build a factory at Changbin Industrial Zone in Lukang, Changhua County and recruit 1,000 workers.    [FULL  STORY]

CAL to reduce stake in Tigerair

IPO RULES: CAL is to sell 45 million shares to cut its holding to 67.5 percent to abide by a TWSE limit on a parent’s stake in a publicly owned subsidiary, a spokesman said

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 05, 2019
By: Kao Shih-ching  /  Staff reporter

China Airlines Ltd (CAL, 中華航空) is to sell NT$1.84 billion (US$59.2 million) of Tigerair Taiwan Ltd (台灣虎航) shares ahead of the low-cost carrier’s (LCC) initial public offering (IPO) in the fourth quarter.

CAL holds 180 million shares, or a 90 percent stake, of Tigerair, higher than the Taiwan Stock Exchange’s (TWSE) limit of 70 percent stake that a parent company could have in a publicly owned subsidiary.

CAL this month is to sell 45 million shares to its own shareholders at NT$41 per share, cutting its holding of Tigerair to 67.5 percent, CAL spokesman Jason Liu (劉朝洋) told the Taipei Times by telephone.

The price is much higher than CAL’s share price of NT$9.79 in Taipei trading yesterday, as Tigerair’s profits have grown steadily since 2017, Liu said, adding that the subsidiary would reveal its net value this month.    [FULL  STORY]

Daba Restaurant closes doors, lays off 150 workers due downturn in Kaohsiung

Kaohsiung's Daba Restaurant latest casualty of Mayor Han's failed promise of 'riches'

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/07/03
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Eight Grand Hotel. (Photo from krtco.com.tw)

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Unable to wait any longer for itinerant Kaohsiung Mayor and full-time presidential candidate Han Kuo-yu's (韓國瑜) promise that the city would "get rich" to be realized, the 39-year-old Daba Restaurant Group (大八餐飲集團) announced on Tuesday (July 2) that it would suspend operations and lay off 150 employees.

After taking office in December of last year, Han promised that "Goods will come in and out, and Kaohsiung will get rich." However, many restaurants and caterers report that there has been no noticeable increase in consumer spending power in the eight months since the new mayor took office, reported Liberty Times.

The Daba Restaurant Group announced that it was facing a crisis with bounced customer checks in August of last year. With the support of suppliers and banks, company Chairman Lin Hui-i (林輝義) buckled down and was about to keep the business running for its 300 employees.

However, over the past year, the company has been unable to remedy the decline and recently, labor disputes have broken out again. On Tuesday, Lin Chi-an (林啟安), Vice President of Daba Restaurant Group, confirmed that the business will suspend operations, while an inventory and internal reorganization will be carried out, reported Liberty Times.    [FULL  STORY]