Business and Finance

Outstanding industry players recognized at Bio Taiwan 2018

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/07/19
By: Han Ting-ting and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, July 19 (CNA) CH Biotech R&D Co., and TaiGen Biotechnology Co. on

President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文, right)

Thursday received gold awards for their outstanding achievements in the biotechnology industry during the opening ceremony of Bio Taiwan 2018, Asia’s leading event for biotech industry, according to the event’s organizers.

Foresee Pharmaceuticals Co. and medical devices producer, Wiltrom Co. won the award for biotech companies with the greatest potential, while iXensor, SynCore Biotechnology Co., and TAHO Pharmaceuticals Ltd. clinched innovation awards.

TaiGen was rewarded for developing antibiotics that have been licensed for use in more than 30 countries and for completing a second-stage clinical trial of a new drug for hepatitis C. The company also plans to submit an application for its newly developed orally administered antiflu drug with the United States Food and Drug Administration’s Investigational New Drug (IND) program in 2019.
[FULL  STORY]

TSMC drops revenue growth forecast

RIGID GOAL: The chipmaker said that its objectives are unchanged, and it still expects to meet its five-year compound annual growth target of between 5 and 10 percent in 2021

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 20, 2018
By: Lisa Wang  /  Staff reporter

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which supplies chips for Apple Inc’s iPhones, yesterday cut its revenue growth forecast for this year again, to less than 10 percent, as volatile bitcoin prices dampened demand for the chips used in cryptocurrency mining machines.

The latest downward adjustment came after TSMC reported a 19.5 percent contraction in net profit to NT$72.29 billion (US$2.36 billion) for the April-to-June quarter, compared with NT$89.79 billion in the first quarter. Net profit expanded 9.1 percent year-on-year from NT$66.27 billion.

At the beginning of this year, the Hsinchu-based chipmaker was aiming for a revenue growth rate of between 10 and 15 percent for this year.

However, a decrease in smartphone demand last quarter and the recent decline in cryptocurrency mining activity has prompted clients to cut orders, TSMC said.
[FULL  STORY]

Taiwan prepares for second Apple Store

New store looks like structure separate from nearby future department store

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/07/18
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Taipei’s new Far Eastern Department Store (left) and what could be Taiwan’s second Apple Store (images from 9to5Mac twitter account).

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – After the opening of Taiwan’s first Apple Store drew long lines at Taipei 101 last year, the U.S. computer giant is preparing to launch a second, independent shop close by, the Apple Daily reported Wednesday.

The media outlet based its prediction on a picture of the construction site in Taipei’s Xinyi shopping district which shows a white roof similar to the one at the Apple Michigan Avenue store in Chicago.

When Taiwan’s first Apple Store opened in June last year, it was housed in one large room inside the Taipei 101 shopping mall, but this time it will be a completely separate building, the Apple Daily reported.

The new structure is being erected on a plot of land designed as “A13,” next to the “A11” Shin Kong Mitsukoshi department store.

While the Apple Store looks like a separate structure, it stands on land designated for use by a new Far Eastern Department Store with its opening planned for 2019.
[FULL  STORY]

President chain opens second unmanned convenience store

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/07/18
By: Kuo Hsin-yi and Flor Wang 

Taipei, July 18 (CNA) President Chain Store Corporation (PCSC), the largest convenience store chain in Taiwan, opened its second unstaffed store in Taipei Monday, eying the tremendous profit potential of such stores.

The second X-STORE, located in the bustling Xinyi District, operates round the clock in a bid to cash in on the large crowds of white-collar workers and students there, said Hsu Yi- hsiung (許義雄), chief of the company’s project management department.

The new store allows customers to enter with a facial- recognition card or an icash 2.0 card and they can pay the bill with the icash 2.0 card in the checkout area after verifying their identity with the facial-recognition card at a human-free counter, Hsu said.

Inside the store, an intelligent ATM machine using finger vein and facial recognition technology offers multi-language services and allows customers to deposit small change and withdraw foreign currencies, Hsu noted.
[FULL  STORY]

Power demand hits new July record

HOT STUFF:Taipower recorded its the third-highest daily consumption figure of all time yesterday, as most counties in the west saw temperatures of more than 36°C

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 19, 2018
By: Kuo Chia-erh  /  Staff reporter

Swelteringly hot weather yesterday pushed the nation’s peak electricity consumption to 36.46 gigawatts (GW), setting a new July record, data compiled by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) showed.

It was also the third-highest daily consumption figure of all time, after 36.77GW on May 30 and 36.71GW May 31, the state-run utility said.

Power demand peaked at 36.46GW at 1:44pm yesterday, with the operating reserve margin falling to 6.47 percent, Taipower data showed.

Most counties in western Taiwan experienced temperatures of more than 36°C at noon yesterday, with Yunlin County reaching the highest at 37.6°C, Central Weather Bureau data showed.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan backend firms to post slight revenue increases in 3Q18

DIGITIMES
Date: 17 July 2018
By: Julian Ho, Taipei; Jessie Shen, DIGITIMES

Taiwan-based packaging and testing companies including second-tier players are expected to report slight revenue increases sequentially for the third quarter, as orders coming from the PC, server and handset sectors have started picking up, according to industry sources.

Demand for networking ICs, handset application processors, wireless radio-frequency ICs, server chips and power management ICs has been rising on seasonality, which will boost revenues at Taiwan-based backend services companies including ASE Industrial holding, King Yuan Electronics (KYEC), Sigurd Microelectronics and Ardentec in the third quarter of 2018, the sources indicated.

ASE Industrial expects to see its revenues hit peak for 2018 in the third quarter, company CFO Joseph Tung was quoted in previous reports. ASE Industrial was established as the parent company of ASE and Siliconware Precision Industries (SPIL) in the second quarter.

GEM Services, a backend house dedicated to power semiconductors, has enjoyed robust orders for MOSFETs from not only Taiwan-based MOSFET suppliers but also its international IDM clients since 2018, the sources said. GEM Services is expected to post a single-digit sequential increase in third-quarter revenues.

GEM Services’ monthly revenues surpassed NT$300 million (US$9.82 million) for the first time in June 2018. Revenues for the second quarter totaled NT$881 million, also a historic high.    [SOURCE]

Taiwan’s largest solar power station officially launched

The 347 hectare floating solar power station is located on reclaimed land in Changhua County

Taiwan News  
Date: 2018/07/17
By: Scott Morgan, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taiwan’s largest solar power station was officially

Solar panels. (Image courtesy of Pxhere)

launched on July 17 in Changhua County (彰化縣), with the 347 hectare site expected to have a total power capacity of 320 megawatts.

The floating solar plant will be built on reclaimed land in Xianxi Township (線西鄉), Changhua County as part of a purpose-built renewable energy area.

The solar facility is part of the Executive Yuan’s (行政院) two year solar energy plan which hopes to lead to national solar capacity of 1.52 gigawatts.

It is expected that annual power generation of the solar plant could reach as high as 436 million Kilowatt hours.    [FULL  STORY]

Far Eastern Air leases another 4 ATR aircraft

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/07/17
By: Lee Hsin-Yin

Taipei, July 17 (CNA) Far Eastern Air Transport Corp. (FAT) on Tuesday signed a

FAT Chief Operating Officer Tseng Chin-chih (曾金池, left) / photo courtesy of Far Eastern Air Transport Corp. (FAT)

letter of intent with aircraft leasing company Nordic Aviation Capital, to lease another four ATR72-600 aircraft amid efforts to modernize its fleet.

The carrier said it leased one ATR72-600 in June from another aircraft leasing company, Aviation PLC, with all five aircraft set to be delivered and start operations in the third quarter of this year.

The new aircraft are expected to boost service quality on domestic routes, especially as the carrier is retiring its aging fleet of eight McDonnell Douglas MD-82/83 aircraft, FAT said.

Of its eight MD planes, six are 20 years old or more and two others are approaching that age, Tseng said last year.    [FULL  STORY]

Nanya Technology profit up 56%

STABLE MARKET: With DRAM demand looking healthy in the second half, the company could see sustainable gross margins and revenue hit a new record, its president said

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 18, 2018
By: Lisa Wang  /  Staff reporter

DRAM chipmaker Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技) yesterday said that its second-quarter net profit rose 56 percent sequentially, as higher prices and increased output drove gross margins to a historical high.

Net earnings soared to NT$11.3 billion (US$370.3 million) in the quarter ending June 30, compared with NT$7.23 billion in the first quarter, the company’s financial statement showed.

Earnings per share jumped to NT$3.68 last quarter from NT$2.39 in the previous quarter.

On an annual basis, net profit soared about 74 percent from NT$6.49 billion, or NT$2.36 a share, in the second quarter last year, the statement showed.
[FULL  STORY]

Taipower suffers huge losses

ICRT Radio News
Date: 2018-07-17

Tai-Power recorded losses of 24-billion N-T in the first half of the year,
making it the only one of four state-run enterprises operated under the
Ministry of Economic Affairs to see a decline in revenue.

Tai-Power is attributing the losses to higher fuel prices and the company’s
being forced to increase its electricity output from natural gas generators
in accordance with the government’s air pollution control and coal-reduction
policies.

The company had a deficit of 7.1-billion N-T in the same period of last year.

The other three state-operated companies Taiwan Sugar, Taiwan Water
Corporation, and oil refiner C-P-C all saw profits in first half of this
year.

Data shows that C-P-C generated 29.4-billion N-T in pretax profit.

Taiwan Sugar recorded a pretax profit of 3.3-billion N-T.

While Taiwan Water made a pretax profit of 222-million N-T in the first half
of this year.    [SOURCE]