Business and Finance

Nuclear reactor mishap costs Taipower NT$200 million

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-03-21
By: Central News Agency

A reactor malfunction caused by human error March 10 at the Jinshan Nuclear Power Plant in Shimen, New Taipei cost the state-owned Taiwan Power Co. (Taipower) an estimated NT$200 million (US$6.18 million), Taipower Chairman Hwang Jung-chiou said Monday.

The automatic shutdown of the nuclear reactor at the plant for four days prompted Taipower to turn to other fuel options for power generation and cost the company NT$50 million in losses per day, Huang said during a legislative session.

The error was made by a long-time employee who wanted to control a reactor with a touch screen computer, but instead operated a touch screen interface to control the other reactor, according to Huang.     [FULL  STORY]

TWSE to hold seminar on virtual reality

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/03/21
By: Flor Wang

Taipei, March 21 (CNA) The Taiwan Stock Exchange announced Monday that it 201603210015t0001will co-host a seminar for leaders in the virtual reality industry on March 31.

Several industry heavyweights and entrepreneurs will be invited to hold wide-ranging discussions on the latest developments, outlook and challenges in the VR industry, which has become one of the most sought-after shares in Taiwan’s stock market, the TWSE said.

Zhan Wennan (詹文男), director of the Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute (MIC) under the Institute for Information Industry, will chair the seminar, while the other participants will include Elan Microelectronics Chairman I.H. Yeh (葉儀皓); Bao Yongzhe (鮑永哲), vice president of the New Science and Technology Department of HTC virtual reality; iStanging CTO Felix Chang (張紹農); and experienced market analysts.

The seminar will be hosted jointly by the TWSE and the MIC.      [SOURCE]

Export orders fall less than expected

BALANCING ACT:Increasing demand for notebooks, solar products and chips helped offset the falling orders for machinery goods and precision instruments

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 22, 2016
By: Lauly Li / Staff reporter

The nation’s export orders fell 7.4 percent annually to US$27.67 billion last month, better than the government’s expectation of a 10 percent decline, due to improving demand for smartphones and laptops, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.

The latest results represent the 11th consecutive month of contraction in export orders, a critical economic indicator which sheds light on actual shipments one to three months ahead.

“The 7.4 percent annual decline was smaller than our previous forecast, mainly because of recovering demand for notebooks from European and US markets, and increasing orders for chips used in smartphones from China,” the ministry’s Department of Statistics Director-General Lin Lee-jen (林麗貞) told a news conference.     [FULL  STORY]

Stronger New Taiwan dollar offsets an increase in global crude oil prices

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 21, 2016
By: Lisa Wang / Staff reporter

State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday said it would cut p13-160321-gas111gasoline prices by NT$0.1 per liter as a strong local currency offset an increase in world crude oil prices.

Meanwhile, diesel prices would remain flat, CPC said in a statement released yesterday.

International crude oil prices rebounded 0.36 percent, or US$0.13, to NT$36.67 per barrel, from US$36.54 a week earlier based on CPC’s pricing mechanism. International crude prices regained strength last week after Iran boosted daily output to 4 million barrels, rejecting an OPEC accord to freeze oil output to ease a global glut, the company said.

OPEC is schedule to meet next month to approve the output freezing consensus, a statement said.     [FULL  STORY]

FinTech adoption set to grow rapidly: EY

CATCHING UP:Consumers are said to be increasingly receptive to online financial platforms, which has legislator William Tseng calling on banks to prepare for changes

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 21, 2016
By: Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter

Financial technology (FinTech) adoption among consumers is set to grow rapidly in the coming year, a change that would force traditional financial services companies to overhaul strategies to compete with new market entrants, global auditing firm Ernst & Young (EY) said in a report.

About 15.5 percent of consumers have used at least two FinTech services, or financial services and products developed by online companies, instead of traditional banks or insurance companies in the past six months, according to the report based on a survey of 10,131 digitally active consumers in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore, the UK and the US.

“The adoption of FinTech products is relatively high for such a new industry that the risk of disruption is real,” Ernst and Young advisory leader Jon Huang (黃昶勳) said in the report.     [FULL  STORY]

Formosa Petrochemical announces fuel price cut for next week

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/03/19
By: Wei Shu and Frances Huang

Taipei, March 19 (CNA) Formosa Petrochemical Corp. (台塑石化), a private 201603190017t0001gasoline supplier in Taiwan, said Saturday that it has decided to cut its gasoline prices for next week and to maintain its diesel price unchanged, partly in reflection of a strong Taiwan dollar against the U.S. dollar.

Meanwhile, Formosa Petrochemical said that a rebound in international crude oil prices in the latter part of this week offset a fall seen earlier in the week, which made the calculation of its fuel prices for next week closer to those seen this week.

Therefore, Formosa Petrochemical has decided to make a small adjustment by cutting fuel prices by NT$0.1 (US$0.003) per liter next week after a NT$0.9 hike per liter set for this week. The price cut is scheduled to take effect at 1 a.m. Monday.     [FULL  STORY]

Asset gain sees Amtran’s net profit rise

COMPETITION:Taiwanese contract LCD TV makers saw shipments boosted by orders from Chinese brands last year, but this year Chinese rivals are expected to do better

Tipei Times
Date: Mar 21, 2016
By: Lisa Wang / Staff reporter

Amtran Technology Co (瑞軒), which makes slim-screen TVs for Xiaomi Corp (小米), said net profit more than doubled last year, primarily supported by a lavish asset gain.

Net profit expanded to NT$1.74 billion (US$53.5 million) last year, compared with NT$845 million in 2013, according to a company statement released on Friday. That translated into earnings per share of NT$2.12 last year, up from EPS of NT$1.01 a year earlier.

Amtran attributed last year’s strong growth to “strong non-operating income, including foreign exchange gains and profits from its holding of Vizio Inc.”

The non-operating gains include profits from Vizio’s US$172 million initial public offering on the NASDAQ in July last year. Amtran holds about a 20 percent share of Vizio, one of the largest TV vendors in North America.     [FULL  STORY]

China’s BOE replaces Innolux as 3rd largest TV panel supplier

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/03/19
By: Pan Chi-i and Frances Huang

Taipei, March 19 (CNA) China’s BOE Technology Group (京東方) replaced 2016031900141Taiwan-based flat panel maker Innolux Corp. (群創) to become the third largest TV screen supplier in the world in February, according a research report released by market information advisory firm TrendForce Corp. (集邦科技).

The strong showing made by BOE reflected the Chinese firm’s improvement in its yield rate which boosted its TV panel shipments last month, the research report said, adding that BOE bucked the downturn of global TV screen shipments in the month.

In February, BOE shipped 3.24 million TV panels, up 1.2 percent from a month earlier, while Innolux, which felt the pinch of the impact resulting from a strong earthquake hitting southern Taiwan in the month, shipped 2.66 million TV screens, down 21.9 percent from a month earlier.

TrendForce said that BOE has also benefited from its efforts to maintain production capacity of the benchmark 32-inch TV panels in the month.     [FULL  STORY]

Ex-EVA chairman cool on new airline idea

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-03-19
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – An attorney for former EVA Airways Chairman 6742376Chang Kuo-wei downplayed suggestions Saturday that the businessman should return to the airline business and either form a new company or buy an existing one.

Over the past few weeks, Chang lost several board positions within the Evergreen Group, as the result of an alleged campaign against him by the first wife of his father, group founder Chang Yung-fa, who died last January.

The younger Chang, who is the only son of his father’s second wife, proclaimed himself chairman of the group and the sole heir last month, but the move provoked a reported backlash from the first wife and her three sons. Since they own more shares in the Evergreen Group and its affiliates than Chang Kuo-wei, they have succeeded in ousting him from several positions, including that of EVA chairman.

After he also lost membership of the board at giant container shipping line Evergreen Marine Corporation Friday, reports emerged that Chang Kuo-wei would return to the airline business by forming a new competitor to EVA.     [FULL  STORY]

Central bank may cut interest rate by 0.125 percentage points

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/03/19
By: Tsai Yi-chu and Frances Huang

Taipei, March 19 (CNA) The Central Bank of the Republic of China (Taiwan) 201603190012t0001is expected to cut its key interest rates by 0.125 percentage points in the upcoming quarterly policymaking meeting scheduled for March 24, according to a forecast made by Standard Chartered Bank.

If the forecast turns out to be true, it will be the third consecutive quarter for the local central bank to lower interest rates at a time when the local economy remained slow in the wake of worse-than-ever export performance amid weakening global demand.

In a policymaking meeting held in December, the central bank slashed interest rates by 0.125 percentage points with the discount rate at 1.625 percent, the rate of accommodations with collateral at 2.0 percent, and the rate of accommodations without collateral at 3.875 percent.

Tony Phoo, a senior economist with Standard Chartered Bank, said that Taiwan’s economy is expected to continue to encounter road bumps and it is possible for the local economy to record a contraction in the first quarter of this year.     [FULL  STORY]