Business and Finance

Taiwan shares bounce back from early losses to end slightly higher

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-07-14
By: Frances Huang, Central News Agency

Taipei, July 14 (CNA) Shares in Taiwan closed slightly higher Thursday, recovering from an early drop, as buying rotated to select old economy and financial stocks, dealers said.

However, the bellwether electronics sector moved in a slow session as investors locked in their gains from recent sessions amid cautious sentiment during the current earnings season at home and on Wall Street, dealers said. The weighted index on the Taiwan Stock Exchange ended up 8.61 points, or 0.1 percent, at 8,866.36, after moving between 8,818.26 and 8,877.31. Turnover totaled NT$83.32 billion (US$2.6 billion) during the session.

The market opened down 0.23 percent on a mild technical correction and selling escalated, pushing the index to the day’s low, after the Down Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 index edged up to new highs overnight, dealers said. After an initial decline on the local main board, bargain hunters turned active, picking up non-high tech stocks in the financial and steel sectors in particular, dealers said. The buying helped cushion the pressure on the electronics sector and boosted the index into positive territory by the close, dealers said. “Wall Street has already recovered from the Brexit vote and has been repeatedly smashing records so valuations in the U.S. market have been high,” Mega International Investment Services Corp. analyst Alex Huang said.     [FULL  STORY]

TWSE to diversify product portfolio, aims at higher turnover

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/07/14
By: Tien Yu-pin and Frances Huang

Taipei, July 14 (CNA) The Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) has been gearing up to diversify its 201607140020t0003product portfolio in a bid to attract more investments and eventually boost daily turnover in the local equity market.

The TWSE, which operates the local main board, said that a wider range of securities products is expected to meet different needs from various investors, including foreign institutional investors, and prompt them to pour more funds into local equities.

The local equity market has long suffered a fall in daily trading volume with many major investors staying away from the trading floor.

A “major player” is defined in Taiwan as an investor who trades at least NT$500 million (US$15.63 million) in shares in a single quarter. Their numbers are an important indicator of investor confidence in the country’s capital markets.     [FULL  STORY]

Largan gross margin hits record

CONTACTS PLANS:Chief executive Adam Lin said that the firm would aggressively expand the operational scope of its contact lens business, seeking swift profitability

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 15, 2016
By: Lauly Li / Staff reporter

Handset camera lens supplier Largan Precision Co (大立光) yesterday reported a record-high gross margin of 66.4 percent for last quarter on a better product portfolio and improved shipments.

Last quarter’s gross margin was up 8.65 percentage points year-on-year and 6.69 percentage points quarter-on-quarter, beating the market consensus estimate of 60 percent.

Operating margin also outperformed the market consensus to reach 57.64 percent last quarter, increasing 6.36 percentage points year-on-year and 7.05 percentage points quarter-on-quarter.     [FULL  STORY]

TSMC reports strong performance in 2nd quarter, grows 11.4%

The China Post
Date: July 15, 2016
By: John Liu

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC, 台積電) pulled in a

From left to right, TSMC Presidents and Co-Chief Executive Officers CC Wei (魏哲家) and Mark Liu (劉德音), and Chief Financial Officer Lora Ho (何麗梅), take questions at an investor conference in Taipei on Thursday, July 14.(John Liu, The China Post)

From left to right, TSMC Presidents and Co-Chief Executive Officers CC Wei (魏哲家) and Mark Liu (劉德音), and Chief Financial Officer Lora Ho (何麗梅), take questions at an investor conference in Taipei on Thursday, July 14.(John Liu, The China Post)

cumulative US$6.84 billion in the second quarter, growing 11.4 percent from the previous quarter and 2.7 percent from the same period last year.

The revenue reportedly beat analyst expectations of US$6.79 billion. The number also went slightly over the company’s own April forecast, thanks to new shipments that were delayed after the February earthquake in Taiwan.

Growing sales in consumer electronics also contributed to the increase, as did sales of industry products, TSMC announced at an investor conference Thursday.

TSMC did not disappoint investors with its third-quarter forecast, which is pivotal in swaying investor confidence and TSMC’s share price.

Revenue for July-September is estimated to reach US$7.93-8.02 billion, growing around 15 percent from the previous three-month period, TSMC predicted.     [FULL  STORY]

No plans to go public on China bourse: TSMC

Focus Taiwan
Date; 2016/07/13
By: C.C. Chang and Flor Wang

Taipei, July 13 (CNA) Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. (TSMC), the world’s largest 201607130014t0001contract chip maker, on Wednesday denied reports that it was considering going public on China’s stock market.

The company made the statement in response to a front page report in a local daily, which cited a Chinese official as saying Tuesday that Taiwan-based hi-tech companies such as TSMC and MediaTek were being encouraged to list on China’s stock market.

“Silicon foundry is not just a foundry business. Rather, it has very great influence,” Chen Deming (陳德銘), president of the China-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS), was quoted as saying.

“If related IC companies based in Taiwan are willing to go public on China’s stock market, they will get full support from the mainland’s central authorities,” Chen said on the sidelines of two exhibitions being held by the Taiwan Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers’ Association in Kunshan, Jiangsu Province.     [FULL  STORY]

Farglory chief slams city over Taipei Dome

Taiwan News
Date; 2016-07-13
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The safety report which led to the Taipei City Government shutting 6769415down work on the Taipei Dome last year amounted to a case of forgery, Farglory Group Chairman Chao Teng-hsiung said at a news conference Wednesday.

Heated exchanges between the administration of Taipei City Mayor Ko Wen-je and the developer of the 40,000-seat stadium project have escalated as the city is considering ending the company’s contract.

Work on the nearly completed Taipei Dome was ordered halted on May 20 last year amid conflicts involving safety concerns and financial matters.

At a news conference called to discuss the project’s disaster prevention and public safety, Chao accused the city government of having violated official procurement laws and favored certain interests, amounting to joint forgery of the safety report.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan shares up 0.18 percent

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/07/13
By: Tien Yu-bin and Lilian Wu

Taipei, July 13 (CNA) Shares in Taiwan opened high Wednesday on the strength of the U.S. 201607130019t0001stock market, but lost momentum until near the end of the trading session when the bourse rebounded to close 0.18 percent higher.

Share prices weakened after the opening as investors pocketed profits and became more cautious in mid-session.

The weighted index on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) ended up 16.29 points, or 0.18 percent, to close at 8,857.75 points. It recorded a high of 8,865.42 points and a low of 8,800.17, while turnover totaled NT$97.28 billion (US$3.02 billion) during the session.

In the electronics sector, large-cap electronics stocks fell, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (台積電), which closed 1.46 percent lower at NT$168.5.     [FULL  STORY]

Asustek, Acer shipments rise moderately: Gartner

BUCKING THE TREND:Despite a 5.2% plunge in global PC shipments, Asustek shipments grew 1.3%, making it No. 4 in the world, while Acer’s shipments grew 0.4%

The China Post
Date: Jul 14, 2016
By: Staff writer, with agencies3

Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) and Acer Inc (宏碁) PC shipments increased in the second quarter from a year earlier, although global PC shipments fell 5.2 percent year-on-year over the same period, according to Gartner Inc.

In a research report released on Monday, Gartner said Asustek shipped about 4.7 million PCs in the April-to-June period, up 1.3 percent from a year earlier, to take a 7.3 percent share of the global market.

Asustek replaced Apple Inc as the fourth-largest PC supplier in the world, as the US consumer electronics giant’s shipments fell 4.9 percent from a year earlier to 4.56 million units, Gartner said.

After defying industry trends in recent years, Apple is feeling the slowdown in global purchases of laptop and desktop computers.

Gartner estimated Apple shipped 4.56 million Macs in the quarter ending June 30, with 7.1 percent share of the market.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan initiates talks with Vietnam and Thailand as ‘New Southward Policy’ unravels

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-07-12
By: Wendy Lee, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

The government has initiated talks with several countries to the south last week, 6769062including Vietnam and Thailand, as part of the ongoing efforts of the government’s “New Southward Policy,” Vice Economics Minister Yang Wei-fuu said Tuesday.

Last week, the Vice Economic Minister led a delegation to visit Vietnam and Thailand, the two Southeast Asian countries, as part of the ongoing efforts of the government’s new policy to go south, which is to make a breakthrough in the nation’s diplomatic situation by expanding trade exchanges with emerging economies in the ASEAN, or the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, as well as in South Asia.

While attending the APEC O2O Summit 2016, the Vice Economic Minister said that the visit to the two Southeast Asian nations last week was to meet with the Taiwanese businesspeople based in these countries, and talk to them about the government’s new outward-oriented economic strategic plan that President Tsai Ing-wen has underscored as “one of the nation’s crucial policies” for the near future.     [FULL  STORY]

U.S. dollar closes higher on Taipei forex (update)

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/07/12
By: Chiu Po-sheng and Frances Huang

Taipei, July 12 (CNA) The U.S. dollar rose against the Taiwan dollar Tuesday, 201607120021t0001gaining NT$0.005 to close at NT$32.220 as traders here took cues from the weakness of other regional currencies to buy into the U.S. unit, dealers said.

After a fall of the U.S. dollar in the previous sessions, bargain hunting emerged, helping the currency climb out of a recent slowdown, dealers said.

In addition, the local central bank was believed to have entered the trading floor to help boost the U.S. dollar, they said.

The greenback opened at the day’s high of NT$32.250, and moved to a low of NT$32.195 before rebounding. Turnover totaled US$600 million during the trading session.     [FULL  STORY]