Business and Finance

Gasoline prices to go up for 6th week in a row

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/04/21
By: Chiu Po-sheng, Wei Shu and Emerson Lim 

Taipei, April 21 (CNA) Taiwan’s two main fuel suppliers will be raising gasoline prices for a sixth week in a row this coming week because of international factors.

State-run oil refiner CPC Corp., Taiwan announced an increase of NT$0.60 per liter for gasoline products and NT$0.10 per liter for diesel effective midnight Sunday.

After the adjustments, suggested retail prices at CPC gas stations will be NT$28.50 (US$0.92) per liter for 92 octane unleaded, NT$30.00 per liter for 95 octane unleaded, NT$32.00 per liter for 98 octane unleaded, and NT$26.80 per liter for super diesel.

CPC cited Venezuela’s historically low oil production and an agreement between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and Russia to decrease production as driving crude oil prices higher in the past week, pushing prices at the pump higher.
[FULL  STORY]

Export orders ready to rebound: ANZ

POSITIVE SIGN: Asia’s exports have been declining since November last year, but a recent rebound in the SOX index indicates that the worst is likely over, the bank said

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 22, 2019
By: Crystal Hsu  /  Staff reporter

The contraction in Taiwan’s export orders could have narrowed to 5 percent last month from a year earlier, compared with a 10.9 percent decline in February, as Asia’s growth slowdown might be close to a trough, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ANZ) said on Friday.

Export orders — a critical gauge of how actual exports are likely to perform in one to three months — had slipped into negative territory for four straight months, as companies adjusted their inventory during the slow sales season.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs is to release its export order data today.

“A key leading indicator for the global technology cycle is pointing toward a rebound, which would bode well for Asia’s exports,” ANZ said in a note, referring to the region’s purchasing managers’ index (PMI).    [FULL  STORY]

Foreign brokerages mixed on Hon Hai after Gou’s presidential bid

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/04/20
By: Jeffrey Wu and Frances Huang

Taipei, April 20 (CNA) Foreign brokerages had different views of how the 2020 presidential bid of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Chairman Terry Gou will affect the company’s operations.

In a research note, an Asian brokerage said Hon Hai, the world’s largest contract electronics maker, has more than 15 business groups run by their own executives, so Gou’s absence from day-to-day operations to run his campaign will have little effect on the company.

The Asian securities house maintained its “buy” recommendation on Hon Hai shares and left its target price of NT$110 (US$3.57) for the stock unchanged.

On Friday, shares of Hon Hai, an iPhone assembler, fell 2.95 percent to close at NT$88.90, off a high of NT$92.90 on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE), as investors decided to cash in on the stock’s recent gains.    [FULL  STORY]

5G could be available in Taiwan as early as January 2020

Vice Premier Chen Chi-mai said the Executive Yuan is pushing for the prompt completion of Taiwan’s 5G build-out.

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/04/19
By: Ryan Drillsma, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

5G services could be ready by January, said Vice Premier Chen.

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Fifth Generation (5G) wireless services could be available in Taiwan as early as January, according to the Executive Yuan.

Vice Premier Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said today (Friday, April 19) during a speech at the 2019 Future Commerce Forum that the Executive Yuan is pushing for the prompt completion of Taiwan’s 5G build-out, which was scheduled to be finished by June 2020. Chen said it may now be completed as early as January, according to the Central New Agency.

A revised list of businesses that Tier I Telecommunications Enterprises can operate by is currently under public review, after the Ministry of Transport and Communication published it last month. The final draft will be submitted to the Executive Yuan for approval in June.

The National Communications Commission’s (NCC) will then consult with the Executive Yuan on 5G spectrum planning and auction preparation. The NCC estimates eight to 10 months will be needed to complete the allocation process, meaning the first wave of 5G licenses will be issued within the first half of 2020.    [FULL  STORY]

Flight attendants to vote on EVA Air strike in May: union

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/04/19
By: William Yen and Lee Hsin-Yin

CNA file photo

Taipei, April 19 (CNA) The Taoyuan Flight Attendants Union (TFAU) said Friday it will hold a vote next month in which members will decide whether EVA Air flight attendants go on strike or continue negotiations that broke down earlier this week.

The vote will likely take more than 10 days, the TFAU said, and it urged the airline to come up with effective solutions to the issues the union has raised, which are mainly focused on work hours and pay.

The TFAU, to which 3,000 of EVA Air’s 4,000 flight attendants belong, declined to answer any further questions raised by the media on Friday.

In response to the TFAU’s latest declaration, an EVA Air executive expressed regret and urged the union to resume talks to avoid a “no-win” situation.    [FULL  STORY]

AU Optronics to gain from fab closure

SHORT-TERM RELIEF:IHS Markit said that Samsung’s strategy to shift from LCD panels to 8K displays would benefit Taiwanese and South Korean manufacturers

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 20, 2019
By: Lisa Wang  /  Staff reporter

LCD panel maker AU Optronics Corp (AUO, 友達) is poised to benefit from the imminent shutdown of a Samsung Display Co G8.5 fab, as the South Korean firm shifts away from LCD panel manufacturing, market researcher IHS Markit said on Thursday.

Beginning this month, Samsung Display plans to retire a G8.5 fab, L8, in two phases and convert it to make high-resolution 8K TV displays that use its Quantum Dot-OLED technology, the market researcher said, adding that this would reduce supply of LCD substrates by 125,000 units a month.

“South Korean and Taiwanese LCD panel makers are facing mounting pressure to transform quicker amid the rise of China,” David Hsieh (謝勤益), a senior display industry analyst with IHS Markit, told an annual display forum in Taipei.

To fend off competition from China, Taiwanese and South Korean companies are being forced to retire or covert older-generation fabs to make niche products as those fabs cannot match China’s new G10.5 fabs, Hsieh said.    [FULL  STORY]

Professional Managers to Run Hon Hai’s Operations

ICRT Radio News
Date: 2019-04-18

Hon Hai Group says today its divisions are being run independently by
professional managers, and Chairman Terry Gou’s personal life plans do not
affect the group’s daily operations.

The comment follows a Japanese financial newspaper report that if Gou steps
down as Hon Hai chairman, it “could have a major impact on the company’s
operations and create chaos in its Japanese subsidiary Sharp.”

Gou said early this week that Hon Hai shareholders will elect a new board
later this year and that he will only make decisions on the group’s future
directions.    [FULL  STORY]

Samsung to inspect Galaxy Fold smartphone after reviewers report problems

Company blames the problem on the unauthorized removal of a protective layer

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/04/18
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

The Samsung Galaxy Fold. (By Associated Press)

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – South Korean electronics giant Samsung said Thursday (April 18) it would “thoroughly inspect” the reports that some of its brand new Galaxy Fold smartphones break too easily.

According to international media reports, several reviewers who received an early copy of the foldable phone reported problems, with the screen breaking, TechRadar reported.

In a statement, the company promised it would look at each problematic handset individually, but it suggested the cause might be the removal of a protective layer of plastic from the display.

The layer should protect the screen against scratches, but some reviewers might have assumed it could be removed, TechRadar continued. Samsung said it would try to make the message clearer to consumers that it would be wrong to strip off the layer.
[FULL  STORY]

Taiwan shares end lower as earlier gains eroded

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/04/18
By: Frances Huang 

Taipei, April 18 (CNA) Shares in Taiwan closed lower Thursday as investors pocketed their earlier gains after the local main board breached 11,000 points at one point in the early morning session, dealers said.

The bellwether electronics sector came off a high as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., the world’s largest contract electronics maker, suffered profit taking selling after a strong showing in recent sessions, while other large tech stocks and old economy stocks also came under pressure, they said.

The silver lining was that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the most heavily weighted stock on the local market, remained resilient, preventing the broader market from falling further by the end of the session, dealers said.    [FULL  STORY]

TSMC Q1 net profits weakest in years

MISSED EXPECTATIONS: Net profits of NT$61.39 billion were below analysts’ forecasts, but the chipmaker’s CEO said that demand was stabilizing and the worst might be over

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 19, 2019
By: Lisa Wang  /  Staff reporter

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday posted its weakest quarterly net profits in about four-and-half years, largely due to flagging demand for premium smartphones and customers’ inventory corrections.

TSMC’s net profits plunged 31.6 percent to NT$61.39 billion (US$1.99 billion) in the quarter ending on March 31, compared with NT$89.79 billion in the same period last year.

That represents a decline of 38.6 percent from NT$99.98 billion in the previous quarter.

The result fell short of analysts’ expectations, as Credit Sussie Group AG’s had forecast NT$62.11 billion, while Citigroup Market Inc had said NT$61.6 billion.    [FULL  STORY]