Business and Finance

Taiwan shares close up 0.36%

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/10/20
By: Yang Kai-hsiang and Lilian Wu

Taipei, Oct. 20 (CNA) Shares in Taiwan reached a 15-month high in mid-session Thursday on the back of 201610200011t0001a strong performance by electronics and plastics shares.

The weighted index on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TAIEX) closed up 33.25 points, or 0.36 percent to finish the day at 9,317.24 on a turnover of NT$63.60 billion (US$2.02 billion).

Boosted by plastics and electronics shares, the weighted index reached 9,331.89 mid-session, the highest point for 15 months, before falling slightly at close of trade.

Shares in Formosa Plastic Corp. (台塑) finished at NT$85, up 3.41 percent, while Nan Ya Plastics Corp. (南亞) closed at NT$65, up 1.72 percent.     [FULL  STORY]

Export orders up 3.9%, ministry says

UPWARD TREND:Orders of semiconductors, passive components, information and communication products and electronic goods all saw a significant annual increase

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 21, 2016
By: Lauly Li / Staff reporter

The nation’s export orders last month expanded 3.9 percent year-on-year and 13.3 percent month-on-month to US$42.96 billion, marking their second consecutive monthly increase, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.

“Last month’s increase was mainly driven by Apple Inc’s iPhone 7 series and other smartphone brands’ mid and low-end models,” Department of Statistics Director-General Lin Lee-jen (林麗貞) told a news conference.

The launch of the Apple Watch series 2 also lent support to export orders last month, Lin added.

Lin said the orders of semiconductors, passive components, information and communication products, electronic goods and basic metal products all saw a significant increase last month from the same period last year.     [FULL  STORY]

Ringing in the sales

The China Post
Date: October 21, 2016
By: CNA

p05cDepartment store 8staffers cheer in preparation for the first day of Xinyi Shinkong Mitsukoshi Mall’s (星光三越百貨) Anniversary Sale in Taipei on Thursday, Oct. 20. Crowds gathered outside the main gate early in the morning, then rushed through the door after it opened at 11 a.m. The Xinyi store’s sale starts Thursday and is set to continue for 26 days, through Nov. 14. The store braces for intense competition as nearby shopping malls Breeze Xinyi and Breeze Songgao also launched their Anniversary Sale discounts on the same day.    [SOURCE]

Prime office vacancies rise: report

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 19, 2016
By: Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter

Vacancy rates for grade-A offices edged up, while rental rates declined sequentially last quarter, as firms turned cautious about operating costs and landlords adjusted terms to attract tenants, international property broker Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) Inc said yesterday.

The leasing market might consolidate this quarter due to continued demand from mobile game and telecommunications service providers, while low-cost carrier V Air (威航) is due to halt operations, the consultancy said.

Vacancy rates rose 0.2 percentage point to 10 percent for upscale offices during the July-to-September period, while rents slid 0.1 percent to NT$2,649 per ping (3.3m2), according to JLL, the nation’s largest broker by market share.

“Conservative spending on the part of firms drove the slowdown even though the leasing market was resilient in comparison with real-estate investment,” JLL associate market director Brian Liu (劉建宇) said by telephone.     [FULL  STORY]

China element in XPEC probed

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-10-18
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Prosecutors raided locations and questioned ten individuals related to DY

XPEC Chairman Aaron Hsu (left).

XPEC Chairman Aaron Hsu (left).

Game Tuesday in connection with a possible Chinese investment in embattled game developer XPEC Entertainment Inc., reports said.

Tuesday’s events were the latest in a long line of developments which started last August, when Japanese-invested Bai Chi Gan Tou Digital Entertainment Company dropped a plan to spend about NT$5 billion (US$159 million) on a stake of 25.17 percent in the gaming developer, the first-ever default on a tender offer settlement in Taiwan. As a result, shares in XPEC fell precipitously, burning many small shareholders, and triggering calls for a thorough investigation.

XPEC Chairman Aaron Hsu was ordered detained after several appeals by prosecutors against court decisions to set bail for the businessman.    [FULL  STORY]

Taoyuan airport planning airport fee hike

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/10/18
By: Wang Shu-fen, Bien Chin-feng and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, Oct. 18 (CNA) Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport is planning to raise airport charges for 201610180017t0001airlines, in order to raise more money to fund several major construction projects, the airport’s operator said Tuesday.

Airport charges are paid by airlines for the use of airport facilities. They include landing, freight and other charges related to the use of airport infrastructure such as runways and passenger terminals.

According to Taoyuan International Airport Corp., it has not altered its airport charges for the last 15 years, and the planned higher levy remains less costly than those charged in other major foreign airports in Asia.

For instance, the levy charged for each of the popular A330-300 aircraft at Tokyo’s Narita International Airport is about 324 percent of that charged at Taoyuan, while the levy for the same model of plane at Hong Kong International Airport is about 187 percent of that charged at Taoyuan.    [FULL  STORY]

Deal with Navinfo still on: MediaTek

AUTOCHIPS:Navinfo’s plans to buy a majority stake in MediaTek’s Chinese subsidiary is under review by the China Securities Regulatory Commission, the chip designer said

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 19, 2016
By: Lisa Wang / Staff reporter

Handset chip designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) yesterday dismissed speculation that a US$497 million

MediaTek chairman Tsai Ming-kai gestures in Taipei in an undated photograph. Mediatek yesterday denied speculation that a US$497 million deal to sell a subsidiary to China’s largest digital map provider, Navinfo Co Ltd, had run into problems. Photo: Chuo Yi-chun, Taipei Times

MediaTek chairman Tsai Ming-kai gestures in Taipei in an undated photograph. Mediatek yesterday denied speculation that a US$497 million deal to sell a subsidiary to China’s largest digital map provider, Navinfo Co Ltd, had run into problems. Photo: Chuo Yi-chun, Taipei Times

deal to sell AutoChips Inc (傑發) to China’s largest digital map provider Navinfo Co Ltd (四維圖新) has hit a snag, saying the case is being reviewed by Chinese regulators.

Concern about a delay in the transaction dragged down MediaTek shares, which fell to a low of NT$238 before recovering to close at NT$240 yesterday in Taipei trading, down 0.41 percent from Monday.

“Navinfo has submitted the deal to China’s regulator for review in accordance with local rules. The project is undergoing a normal review process,” MediaTek spokesman David Ku (顧大為) said in a Taiwan Stock Exchange filing.

Ku’s remarks came after the Chinese-language Economic Daily News yesterday reported that the review had stalled, because the China Securities Regulatory Commission was concerned that Navinfo might overpay for the acquisition of AutoChips, which has seen falling revenues.    [FULL  STORY]

Tech firms hit by forex fluctuations

UPS AND DOWNS:The decline in the Chinese yuan is hurting Taiwanese firms with factories in China, while other companies are affected by the NT dollar’s strength

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 18, 2016
By: Lauly Li / Staff reporter

Local contract electronics makers such as Pegatron Corp (和碩) and Inventec Corp (英業達) are under pressure as the New Taiwan dollar’s and Chinese yuan’s fluctuations against the US dollar affected their financial results for last quarter.

“The strong NT dollar and the weak yuan against the US dollar are considered negative factors in the company’s non-operating performance last quarter,” a Pegatron investor relations official said by telephone.

Investors focus on Pegatron’s foreign-exchange figures is when the company releases its earnings performance every quarter.

The company has manufacturing plants Shanghai, Chongqing, Suzhou and Kunshan, China. It pays construction and plant maintenance costs, as well as workers’ salaries in yuan.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan shares open lower

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-10-18
By: Central News Agency

Taipei, Oct. 18 (CNA) The Taiwan Stock Exchange’s main index opened down 1.15 points at 9,175.07 Tuesday on turnover of NT$1.397 billion (US$44.08 million).     [SOURCE]

Taiwan lags in ‘institutions’ category of competitiveness reports

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/10/17
By: Chen Cheng-wei and Lilian Wu

Taipei, Oct. 17 (CNA) Taiwan has not performed well in the “institutions ” category of the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Competitiveness Report over the past five years, the National Development Council (NDC) said Monday.

The “institutions” category rates public institutions, such as ethics and corruption, public trust in politicians, undue influence such as judicial independence.

Corporate ethics and the accountability of private institutions are also gauged.

In the “institutions” category, the ranking dropped to 30th place this year mainly because Taiwan is deemed to have too many administrative laws and regulations, and the government has been spending lavishly. The legal efficiency in solving business disputes and judicial independence also needs to be improved, according to WEF.     [FULL  STORY]