Business and Finance

Taiwan’s equity market shows best performance globally: MOF

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/02/04
By: Chiu Po-sheng and Frances Huang

Taipei, Feb. 4 (CNA) Boosted by the National Financial 201602040017t0001Stabilization Fund, Taiwan’s local equity market has been resilient so far this year, scoring the best performance in the world, according to statistics from the Ministry of Finance (MOF).

The weighted index on the Taiwan Stock Exchange has fallen about 3.3 percent since the start of the year, a better performance than other markets in the world, Vice Finance Minister Wu Tang-chieh (吳當傑) said, citing his ministry’s data.

In the period Jan. 4 to Feb. 3, the weighted index dropped 275.06 points, closing at 8,063 points Wednesday, the last trading session before the Lunar New Year holiday, he noted.     [FULL  STORY]

TSMC mainland Chinese investment OK’d by MOEA

Taiwan Today
Date: February 4, 2016

An investment plan by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.

TSMC’s planned Nanjing facility in mainland China is expected to further strengthen the Taiwan company’s standing in the global semiconductor industry. (Courtesy of TSMC)

TSMC’s planned Nanjing facility in mainland China is expected to further strengthen the Taiwan company’s standing in the global semiconductor industry. (Courtesy of TSMC)

Ltd. for a 12-inch wafer fab and design center in the mainland Chinese city of Nanjing was greenlighted Feb. 3 by the ROC Ministry of Economic Affairs.

Boasting a capacity of 20,000 wafers per month, the wholly owned facility is set to begin mass production using 16 nanometer process technology in the second half of 2018. At the same time, the center will help TSMC build its own design ecosystem on the other side of the strait.

TSMC Chairman Morris Chang said in view of the rapid growth of the mainland Chinese semiconductor market, the plan enables the company to provide closer support for its customers and tap further business opportunities.     [FULL  STORY]

HTC posts worst results in 14 years

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/02/03
By: Esme Jiang and Frances Huang

Taipei, Feb. 3 (CNA) Taiwan-based smartphone brand HTC Corp. 201602030026t0001(宏達電) on Wednesday reported its worst annual results since 2002 when it was listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange.

At an investor conference, HTC said its annual consolidated sales fell 35.24 percent in 2015 to NT$121.68 billion, while it registered a loss per share of NT$18.78 due to escalating global competition.

In the fourth quarter of 2015, HTC posted a worse-than-expected loss per share of NT$4.1 and a gross margin of 13.9 percent, the lowest quarterly data in its history and its third consecutive quarterly loss.     [FULL  STORY]

TAIEX finishes lunar year down

MARKET CRUTCH:Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing announced a generous cash dividend for earnings made last year, which helped prop up the main board

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 04, 2016
By: Staff writer, with CNA

The TAIEX shed 0.84 percent to 8,063 yesterday, ending the Year of the Goat with a 15.3 percent decline as investors grew uneasy over further volatility in global markets after Wall Street took a hit and international oil prices plunged, dealers said.

Selling focused on financial stocks amid fears that they would incur heavy losses from their overseas investments at a time of instability in the world economy, while Apple Inc-linked stocks trended lower due to lingering worries over shipments of the next generation of iPhones, they said.

Bucking the TAIEX fall, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, lent support to the local bourse after the company announced a generous cash dividend proposal for earnings made last year, they added.     [FULL  STORY]

TSMC’s 12-inch wafer fab project in China approved

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-02-03
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

The Investment Commission of the Ministry of Economic Affairs 6733174Wednesday approved Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company’s (TSMC) application for an investment project to build a wholly-owned 12-inch wafer manufacturing facility and a design service center in Nanjing, China with a total capital investment not exceeding US$3 billion.

As the first case of Taiwan’s first wholly-owned 12-inch fab in China, TSMC’s application has been approved by more than 10 related government agencies since the company first submitted its application to the Investment Commission on Dec. 17 last year.

TSMC said it will soon begin construction of the facility on a selected day since the project has been approved by the commission.     [FULL  STORY]

Huang An’s whereabouts a mystery after Chou incident

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-02-03
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

6733167

The noodles eatery Huang’s mother runs at a market in Zhubei City, Hsinchu County.

Entertainer Huang An, who has incited public indignation by accusing other entertainers of holding the political view of Taiwan independence, will not return to Taiwan for the Chinese New Year, according to local media reports.

After having made an announcement on his Sina Weibo page that he would return to Taiwan on Feb. 3, Huang turned low-key, and even his agency would not reveal information related to his whereabouts.

Latest media reports said Huang will temporarily not come back to Taiwan, but instead his mother will go to China to visit him.

After the Chou Tzu-yu incident, the media has turned attention to the noodles eatery Huang’s mother runs at a market in Zhubei City, Hsinchu County. According to the neighboring store owners and customers, Huang’s elder sister has taken over the business of the eatery and Huang’s mother has not been seen working there for quite a while.

Taiwan PMI returns to expansion in January

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-02-01
By: Central News Agency

Taiwan’s manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI) began expanding again in January after six months of contraction, according to a report released by the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER) Monday.

The local PMI index for January rose 4.7 points from a month earlier to 51.3, the think tank said.

A PMI reading of above 50 indicates expansion in manufacturing activity, while a figure below 50 signals contraction.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan retains 14th place in world economic freedom rankings

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/02/01
By: Tony Liao and Romulo Huang

Washington, Feb. 1 (CNA) Taiwan was ranked at the 14th place in

CNA file photo

CNA file photo

the Heritage Foundation’s Index of Economic Freedom for 2016, the same position as it was placed in the previous year.

In the rankings released by the Heritage Foundation Monday, Taiwan scored 74.7 points in the 2016 index, down 0.4 from a year earlier, to take 14th place among the 178 countries covered by this year’s index. Taiwan’s score was well above the world average of 60.7.

Within the Asia Pacific region, Taiwan finished fifth, trailing Hong Kong, Singapore, New Zealand, and Australia, which were in the first, second, third and fifth places of the world rankings, respectively.    [FULL  STORY]

MediaTek downbeat on gross margin

AIMING FOR THE SUN:MediaTek aims to boost revenue contribution from its high-end Helio-brand smartphone chips to 20 percent of its total handset chip shipments

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 02, 2016
By: Lisa Wang / Staff reporter

MediaTek Inc (聯發科), which supplies handset chips to China’s Xiaomi Corp (小米) and Huawei Technology Co (華為), yesterday said its gross margin this year would continue to be poor — remaining less than 40 percent — due to intensifying price competition, which last quarter drove the firm’s net profits to an almost three-year low.

MediaTek’s latest forecast came after gross margin plunged to an all-time low of 38.5 percent in the fourth quarter of last year as rivals Qualcomm Inc and China’s Spreadtrum Communications Inc (展訊) wage a price war to vie for bigger market shares.

“Price competition is to continue to weigh on the gross margin of our 3G and LTE chips this year… Gross margin is to be lower than 40 percent,” company vice chairman and president Hsieh Ching-jiang (謝清江) told investors.

Hsieh attributed the downbeat estimate to a rise in the LTE smartphone chip segment — which is expected to account for more than 50 percent of total handset chip shipments this year — as the firm’s margins on LTE chips are poor.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan to allow unlimited day trading starting Monday

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-01-31
By: Central News Agency

Unlimited day trading of securities will be allowed on Taiwan’s stock market beginning Monday, the latest move by the Financial Supervisory Committee (FSC) to boost turnover and make the market more competitive internationally.
Investors will be able to buy and sell in the same day all securities on the market that can be traded on margin, which totaled 1,432 stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) as of the end of December, according to the FSC.

Since June 1, 2015, a total of 377 stocks and ETFs, accounting for 90 percent of Taiwan’s market capitalization, have been allowed to be day traded, the FSC said.      [FULL  STORY]