Business and Finance

Taiwan cannot count on new iPhones to boost exports: TIER

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/09/12
By: Tsai Yi-chu and Frances Huang

Taipei, Sept. 12 (CNA) While Apple Inc. unveiled its latest iPhone models last week, raising optimism 201609120011t0001toward Taiwanese suppliers’ shipments, the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, 台經院) said Monday that global demand remains slow, so that Taiwan cannot count on the new iPhones to raise its exports for the rest of this year.

In a seminar held by the TIER on the economic climate in the region, Gordon Sun (孫明德), director of the TIER’s Economic Forecasting Center, said that with major economies such as Europe, the United States, China and Japan having shown no signs of any meaningful rebound, Taiwan is expected to continue its slow pace in economic recovery.

Many market analysts, and even the government, have anticipated that Apple’s new smartphones — the 4.7-inch iPhone 7 and the 5.5-inch iPhone 7 Plus, which were launched Sept. 7 and will go on global sale Sept. 16, will give a boost to Apple concept stocks in Taiwan in terms of outbound sales.     [FULL  STORY]

Hua Nan Financial names head

UPWARD GAZE:Wu Tang-chieh said a goal was to crack the nation’s top five profit-making state-run financial firms, while innovation and exports were other targets

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 13, 2016
By: Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter

Former deputy minister of finance Wu Tang-chieh (吳當傑) yesterday took over as chairman of state-run Hua Nan Financial Holding Co (華南金控), saying he would underscore risk control and legal compliance so the conglomerate can become a top-five player in Taiwan.

Wu, who was appointed as state-owned Land Bank of Taiwan’s (土地銀行) chairman one week after the change in governments on May 20, filled the vacancy left by Shiu Kuang-si (徐光曦).

Shiu was appointed to the helm of Mega Financial Holding Co (兆豐金控) on Aug. 16, but stepped down two weeks later to take responsibility for a failure of compliance by Mega International Commercial Bank’s (兆豐銀行) New York branch that led the New York State Department of Financial Services to impose a fine of US$180 million.

“Corporate governance is my focus and strength after more than three decades of government service in related fields,” Wu said at a handover ceremony.     [FULL  STORY]

XAC withdraws share listing application

‘LONG-TERM’ STRATEGY:This is the second time XPEC Art Center Inc has scrapped plans for a listing on the Taipei Exchange, after it aborted a similar plan two years ago

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 12, 2016
By: Lauly Li / Staff reporter

XPEC Art Center Inc (XAC, 樂陞美術館), a subsidiary of the troubled XPEC Entertainment Inc (樂陞科技), on Saturday announced that it is to withdraw its share listing application to the Taipei Exchange.

XAC was established in Kaohsiung in July 2013 with paid-in capital of NT$203.5 million (US$6.45 million) and designs artwork for video games, the company said.
This is not the first time XAC retracted its share listing plan. The firm filed an application with the Taipei Exchange in March 2014 and withdrew the application in June that year citing “long-term” strategies.

XAC revived the share listing plan on July 12 and the Taipei Exchange was expected to complete its review of the application before the end of this month.     [FULL  STORY]

Tigerair Taiwan interviews 800 applicants for 50 jobs

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/09/11
By: Bien Chin-feng, Wang Shu-fen and Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, Sept. 11 (CNA) Around 800 people were interviewed Sunday for flight attendant jobs with Tigerair Taiwan, a budget airline that is a joint venture between Tigerair Singapore and Taiwan’s China Airlines (CAL).

The 800 interviewees were selected from among 1,100 applicants for the 50 openings for flight attendants with Japanese and Korean language ability, the airline said.

Following Sunday’s preliminary interviews, a second round will be held Sept. 24-25 and the successful applicants will begin work next year, Tigerair Taiwan said.

Apart from the language prerequisite, the other requirements for the job include an ability to cope with stress and to work as a team, according to the carrier, which is conducting its 10th round of flight attendant recruitment since its establishment in December 2013.     [FULL  STORY]

Asustek mulling R&D center in India

FOREIGN TALENT:The company said it has hired dozens of software engineers from India, undertaking projects based on that nation’s smartphone user experience

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 12, 2016
By: Lauly Li / Staff reporter

Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) said it is considering establishing a research and development (R&D) center in India to deepen its collaboration with Indian engineers.

“India has a strong and developed software industry with a high number of software talents. The nation’s economy has potential and the market there is growing,” Asustek spokesman Nick Wu (吳長榮) said by telephone yesterday.

Asustek said it has hired dozens of Indian software engineers to work at its headquarters in Guandu (關渡), in Taipei’s Beitou District (北投), undertaking numerous software development projects based on India’s smartphone user experience.

The plan to establish an R&D center in India is still in an early stage and has yet to be finalized by the management, Wu said, adding that it is one of Asustek’s potential overseas investments.     [FULL  STORY]

Local shares hit by fear over Fed rate hike

The China Post
Date: September 11, 2016
By: CNA

TAIPEI–Shares in Taiwan on Saturday extended their losses from the previous session, closing down more than 110 points as investor sentiment was hurt by growing fears of an interest rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve, dealers said.

The selling on the local main board followed a drop of almost 400 points on the Dow Jones Industrial Average overnight after a voting member of the Fed suggested that a gradual tightening of the U.S. central bank’s policy would help support employment, dealers said.

On the Taiwan bourse, the bellwether electronics sector led the drop of the broader market, with “Apple concept stocks” in focus amid worry over sales of the latest iPhones, which tech analysts said delivered no surprises since the upgrade of specifications had been widely expected, according to dealers.     [FULL  STORY]

Formosa Petrochemical leaves fuel prices unchanged for next week

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-09-10
By: Wei Shu and Romulo Huang, Central News Agency

Taipei, Sept. 10 (CNA) Formosa Petrochemical Corp., a privately owned gasoline supplier in Taiwan, said Saturday that it has decided to leave its gasoline and diesel prices unchanged next week.

Prices at Formosa Petrochemical gas stations islandwide will remain next week at NT$20.1 (US$0.63) per liter for super diesel, NT$22.8 per liter for 92 octane unleaded, NT$24.3 per liter for 95 unleaded and NT$26.6 per liter for 98 unleaded.

The company’s major competitor, state-owned CPC Corp., Taiwan, is also expected to maintain its current fuel prices, when it makes its announcement at noon Sunday, market sources said.     [SOURCE]

Corporate employees encouraged to expose corruption: TWSE

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/09/10
By: Tien Yu-pin and Frances Huang

Taipei, Sept. 10 (CNA) Employees of local corporations have been encouraged to expose corruption 201609100026t0001in their organizations and thus help to increase transparency in the local capital market, according to the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE).

At a join seminar recently, the TWSE and Taipei Exchange (TPEx) said there needs to be greater awareness of corruption, and employees of corporations should report any such cases to the government.

The TWSE operates the local main board, while the TPEx runs the over-the-counter market in Taiwan.

At the seminar, Yang Shih-chin (楊石金), deputy director of the Agency Against Corruption (AAC) of the Ministry of Justice, likened corruption to a virus, saying it can spread and undermine the fundamentals of a cooperation and therefore should be contained and eliminated.     [FULL  STORY][

Conditional approval for Hanjin bailout

MAROONED:The company has 92 ships banned from docking at ports, most of them carrying goods destined for US stores before the holiday shopping season

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 11, 2016
By: AFP, SEOUL

A key member of South Korea’s Hanjin Group yesterday agreed to a conditional bailout of the group’s shipping unit, whose collapse has sparked turmoil worldwide on the high seas.

The board of group unit Korean Air Lines Co, meeting for the third straight day, decided to lend 60 billion won (US$55 million) to Hanjin Shipping Co, two-thirds of whose cargo fleet is marooned at sea due to huge debts.

“The board members decided to provide the loan but only in exchange for collateral [from Hanjin Shipping],” a company spokeswoman said.

At the two previous meetings on Thursday and Friday, some board members objected to offering the loan and securing collateral afterward, she said.

Hanjin Shipping is seeking bankruptcy protection at home and in the US after creditors rejected its latest plan to deal with a US$5.37 billion debt.     [FULL  STORY]

TWSE and Credit Suisse to promote ‘sound’ listed firms

The China Post
Date: September 11, 2016
By: CNA

TAIPEI–The Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) has joined forces with Zurich-headquartered financial giant Credit Suisse to promote fundamentally sound Taiwan-listed companies to global investors.

The TWSE, which operates the local main board, and Credit Suisse have jointly launched an investment forum as part of the exchange’s efforts to encourage investors to park their funds in the local equity market.

It is the eighth time the TWSE and Credit Suisse have worked together to hold such a forum, focusing on healthy corporations in Taiwan in a bid to boost investors’ understanding of Taiwan’s capital market.

During the three-day forum, representatives from Taiwan’s semiconductor, consumer electronics, biotech, telecommunications and financial firms will meet with investors, including more than 260 institutional investors, the TWSE said. The exchange said that the forum is expected to provide Taiwan-listed firms and potential investors with a good opportunity for face-to-face exchanges.     [FULL  STORY]