Business and Finance

Taiwan shares end below 9,300 point mark

Taiwan News
Date: 2016/10/27
By: By Frances Huang, Central News Agency

Shares in Taiwan moved lower to close below the 9,300-point mark Thursday, as the bellwether electronics sector encountered relatively heavier downward pressure in the wake of losses incurred on the tech-heavy NASDAQ index in the U.S. market overnight, dealers said.

Among the falling electronics stocks on the main board, suppliers to Apple Inc. led the downturn as investors took cues from a plunge in Apple shares overnight on its disappointing results, while old economy stocks also faced selling due to investors locking in their earlier gains, the dealers said.

Market sentiment remained cautious during the ongoing earnings season amid lingering fears that local export-oriented high-tech firms will report foreign exchange losses for the third quarter due to a stronger Taiwan dollar, they said.

The weighted index on the Taiwan Stock Exchange closed down 62.70 points, or 0.67 percent, at 9,299.55, after moving between 9,286.86 and 9,370.32, on turnover of NT$66.45 billion (US$2.10 billion).    [FULL  STORY]

AIDC wins GE order for jet engine parts

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/10/27
By: Wei Shu and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, Oct. 27 (CNA) Aerospace Industrial Development Corp. (AIDC), the No. 1

Photo courtesy of Aerospace Industrial Development Corp.

Photo courtesy of Aerospace Industrial Development Corp.

aircraft maker in Taiwan, has signed a cooperation contract, valid from 2016 through 2020, with U.S.-based General Electric Co. to manufacture spare parts for GE’s fuel-efficient LEAP aircraft engines, a spokesman for AIDC said on Thursday.

The two companies have also inked a contract, valid from 2017 through 2022, to manufacture the new LEAP engines and spare parts for the GE LM9000 aero-derivative industrial gas turbine.

The LEAP engine is produced by CFM International, the world’s leading supplier of jet engines for commercial airplanes and a 50-50 joint venture company between GE and Safran Aircraft Engines (formerly known as Snecma) of France.2    [FULL  STORY]

HTC, Syntrend to launch VR arcade

INTRODUCING VR:Viveland, which opens tomorrow in Taipei, is expected to attract about 700 people per weekday and expose more consumers to HTC’s VR devices

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 28, 2016
By: Lauly Li / Staff reporter

HTC Corp (宏達電) and Syntrend Creative Park (三創園區) have jointly invested NT$10

Visitors inspect an HTC Vive stand in Taipei yesterday. Photo: CNA

Visitors inspect an HTC Vive stand in Taipei yesterday. Photo: CNA

million (US$316,086) in building a virtual reality (VR) arcade in Taipei, that is set to open tomorrow, in an effort to expand HTC’s VR business and attract more consumers to the park.

“Our plan is to establish a new business model and generate NT$2 million in revenue per month at the Viveland in Syntrend,” HTC vice president of virtual reality Raymond Pao (鮑永哲) told a news conference in Taipei.

This is HTC’s first direct investment in a VR theme arcade since the company launched its Vive headsets worldwide in April.

The company invested between NT$4 million and NT$5 million, and Syntrend funded the rest for the project, Pao said.    [FULL  STORY]

Better-than-forecast demand sees Acer Inc facing shortages

Taipei Timeas
Date: Oct 27, 2016
By: Lauly Li / Staff reporter

Acer Inc (宏碁) chief executive officer Jason Chen (陳俊聖) yesterday said the company’s Chromebooks and its new notebook computers are facing component and assembly shortages due to stronger-than-expected market demand.

The company has requested both suppliers and assemblers increase their capacity to ease the constraints, Chen said.

“Orders for Acer’s Chromebooks and notebooks are more than the company’s forecast when we launched a series of new products in Berlin in September,” Chen told reporters on the sidelines of Acer’s forum on “smart city” development in Taipei.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan ranked 11th most business-friendly economy in world

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-10-26
By: Sophia Yang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

The ease of doing business in Taiwan has improved over the past year, with a ranking of No. 5 among 6774958Asia-Pacific economies and No. 11 globally, according to a World Bank annual report measuring the regulations that enhance and impede business activity.

In this year’s Doing Business 2017, New Zealand ranked as the most business-friendly country in the annual survey with a total score of 87.01, leaving Singapore, last year’s winner, in second place with a score of 85.05.

Taiwan ranked No. 11 worldwide in the report and No. 5 in the Asia Pacific region, with 81.09 total points. According to the report, Taiwan outperforms in getting electricity and construction permits and performs relatively well in starting a business, registering property, enforcing contracts, and protecting property rights.

However, Taiwan received the lowest score in terms of getting credit, with a rank of 62nd in the world.     [FULL  STORY]

U.S. dollar closes lower on Taipei forex

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/10/26
By: Romulo Huang

201610260012t0001Taipei, Oct. 26 (CNA) The U.S. dollar fell against the Taiwan dollar Wednesday, losing NT$0.058 to close at NT$31.558.

Turnover totaled US$623 million during the trading session.

The greenback opened at NT$31.558 and moved between NT$31.510 and NT$31.599 before the close.  [FULL  STORY]

PChome unveils third-party payment service

BAD CALL:Former Financial Supervisory Commission chairman Chen Yuh-chang had been remiss in 2013 when he refused to allow non-financial companies to offer online payment services

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 27, 2016
By: Kuo Chia-erh / Staff reporter

PChome InterPay (國際連), a wholly owned subsidiary of PChomePay (支付連), yesterday launched a

PChome Online Inc chairman Jan Hung-tze, third right, and others yesterday pose for photographers at a news conference in Taipei to promote PChome InterPay’s third-party payment service. Photo: CNA

PChome Online Inc chairman Jan Hung-tze, third right, and others yesterday pose for photographers at a news conference in Taipei to promote PChome InterPay’s third-party payment service. Photo: CNA

third-party payment and online financing service.

PChome InterPay, with a paid-in capital of NT$501 million (US$15.88 million), said that its service would allow tens of millions of customers within subsidiaries of PChome Online Inc (網路家庭) to directly store money and make transactions with third-party payment accounts instead of using credit cards or bank accounts.

The company said in a statement that it would introduce the service to 8.8 million users at PChome subsidiary Ruten.com (露天拍賣) and expand its customer base to include PChome’s other subsidiaries — such as PChome Store Inc (商店街市集) — in the near future.

“E-commerce business in Taiwan has great potential, but the legal framework [for third-party payments] was not fully established until last year,” PChome chairman Jan Hung-tze (詹宏志) told a news conference in Taipei, referring to the legislature’s approval of amendments to the Electronics Payment Processing Institutions Act (電子支付機構管理條例).    [FULL  STORY]

E.G-Sain head to serve as interim XPEC chairman

BEYOND LEGAL SCOPE:The embattled video game developer said accounting firm Ernst & Young Taiwan had terminated its contract and stopped audit services

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 25, 2016
By: Lauly Li / Staff reporter

Troubled video game developer XPEC Entertainment Inc (樂陞科技) yesterday appointed Ding Wan-ming (丁萬鳴), general manager of its honey cake subsidiary E.G-Sain (一之鄉), as the company’s acting chairman.

Former acting chairman Peter Lee (李柏衡) is to serve as XPEC’s chief financial officer and spokesman, the firm said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange.

XPEC chairman Aaron Hsu (許金龍) is being held incommunicado by the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office over allegations the XPEC share price was manipulated.

Ding, a former business reporter, was Hsu’s colleague at the Chinese-language United Daily News 10 years ago.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan shares end up, led by high-tech sector

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-10-24
By: Frances Huang, Central News Agency

Shares in Taiwan closed higher on Monday as the bellwether electronics sector trended higher, led by large cap high-tech stocks such as contract chip maker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC, 台積電). These helped the broader market offset selling in the old economy and financial sectors, dealers said.

Despite the upturn, turnover remained thin as many investors remained on the sidelines, waiting for the release of more corporate results during the on-going earnings seasons at home and on Wall Street, they said.

The weighted index on the Taiwan Stock Exchange ended the day up 15.93 points, or 0.17 percent, at 9,322.50, after moving between 9,308.53 and 9,343.57, on turnover of NT$56.76 billion (US$1.79 billion).

The market opened up 0.29 percent as TSMC, the most heavily weighted stock on the market, posted gains, and momentum continued until the end of the session with the chip maker and other high-tech heavyweights, including smartphone camera lens supplier Largan Precision Co. (大立光) moving higher, dealers said.    [FULL  STORY]

Industrial production grows for 2nd consecutive month in September

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/10/24
By: Huang Chiao-wen and Frances Huang

Taipei, Oct. 24 (CNA) Industrial production in Taiwan posted a year-on-year increase 201610240023t0002for the second consecutive month in September, helped by the launch of new mobile devices by international brands, government statistics showed Monday.

The industrial production index in Taiwan rose 5.02 percent from a year earlier to 107.81 points after a 7.78 percent year-on-year increase in August, according to Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) data.

The ministry said the second straight month of growth reflected the peak season in the global electronics industry, with many brands rushing to release their products to carve out bigger market shares.     [FULL  STORY]