Focus Taiwan
Date: 05/13/2020
By: Tsai Peng-min and Frances Huang

Taipei, May 13 (CNA) EVA Airways, one of the major international carriers in Taiwan, on Wednesday reported a net loss of more than NT$1.2 billion (US$40.13 million) for the first quarter of the year, citing slow demand due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

In a statement, EVA Air said it suffered a net loss of NT$1.221 billion in the January-March period, compared with a net profit of NT$1.91 billion in the same period last year.

With those figures, the company posted a first-quarter loss per share of NT$0.25, plunging from an earnings per share of NT$0.40 in the first three months of 2019.

The carrier said its consolidated sales for the first quarter of 2020 plummeted 31.8 percent from a year earlier to NT$30.23 billion, with revenue generated by passenger flights in the first quarter down 28.1 percent year-on-year to NT$18.64 billion, as the pandemic forced lockdowns in many countries.    [FULL  STORY]

CLOUDY VISIBILITY: The firm would retain its original goal of high single-digit growth for the sector this year, but it would be cautious, president Welch Lin told investors

Taipei Times
Date: May 14, 2020
By: Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporter

Taishin Financial Holding Co (台新金控) yesterday said its banking unit is expected to see high single-digit percentage growth in corporate lending this year, despite the COVID-19 outbreak.

Taishin International Bank (台新銀行) reported a 23.5 percent increase in corporate loans to NT$552 billion (US$18.46 billion) in the first quarter, from NT$447 billion a year earlier, the parent company told an investors’ conference in Taipei.

The loan book grew significantly in March as many big companies applied to increase borrowings to prepare for the fallout of the pandemic and to maintain their business operations, Taishin Financial head of wholesale banking Sharon Lin (林淑真) said, adding that most of them are short-term loans.

Lending to manufacturers accounted for 37.7 percent of its total corporate loans, followed by 20 percent for financial companies, 14.2 percent for property and construction firms, 10.6 percent for the retail and wholesale sector, and 6 percent for transportation and telecom firms, she said.
[FULL  STORY]

Compared to government’s NT$1.05 relief budget, NT$450 billion not much to ask for: Taipei city councilor

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/05/12
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taipei City Councilor Wang Shih-chien (王世堅) during an interview

Tuesday (May 12) gave Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) a failing grade of 59 points, saying the bureaucracy Su leads has failed to fulfill President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) pledge to deliver economic relief to the public amid the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Wang said that cash relief should be extended unconditionally to Taiwanese making less than NT$1.2 million or less per year, Liberty Times reported. He criticized the NT$10,000 (US$330) cash currently being doled out to individuals of lower socioeconomic status, such as those who sell magnolias, sausages, or fruit on the street, those who hold advertisements, and temporary workers, saying that while the intention was good, requiring them to fill out all the forms was too taxing.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 05/12/2020
By: Chang Chien-chung and Frances Huang

Taipei, May 12 (CNA) Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the world's largest contract chipmaker, said Tuesday it has approved a plan to issue a NT$2.5 (US$0.08) cash dividend per share for its earnings in the first quarter of this year.

In the January-March period, TSMC raked in NT$4.51 in earnings per share, up from NT$4.47 the previous quarter and also up from NT$2.37 over the same period last year.

The NT$2.5 cash dividend per share plan, which was approved by a board meeting on Tuesday, had been widely anticipated by the market as the company, which enjoys steady earnings growth by holding a technological lead over its peers, had said it would follow a stable cash dividend payout policy.

In 2019, TSMC issued a total of NT$10 in cash dividends per share to shareholders. The chipmaker has announced that total annual cash dividend payouts will be NT$10 or even higher.
[FULL  STORY]

CONSECUTIVE GROWTH: Stock transactions generated NT$9.4 billion in tax revenue, rising 12.5 percent from a year earlier, as stock transactions hit a new high since 2009

Taipei Times
Date: May 13, 2020
By: Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter

The Ministry of Finance yesterday said it collected NT$119.1 billion (US$3.98 billion) in tax revenue last month, an increase of 6.1 percent from a year earlier, bolstered by larger securities transactions and dividend payouts.

The overall gains in tax revenue came even though business activity and housing deals slackened amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Trading on the local bourse is vibrant this year, allowing securities transaction tax revenue to post growth for seven months straight,” Department of Statistics Deputy Director-General Chen Yu-feng (陳玉豐) said.

/Stock transactions generated NT$9.4 billion in tax revenue, jumping 12.5 percent from a year earlier, with average daily turnover rising 21.19 percent from NT$155.2 billion to NT$186.4 billion last month, Chen said.    [FULL  STORY]

Forbes
Date: May 11, 2020
By: Ralph Jennings

The global coronavirus outbreak has brought booming business to online conferencing software. That’s, of course, because governments around the world are asking people to stay home and ordering workplace closures—two measures aimed at stopping the virus spread. Now, Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC is building on the remote connection craze with a virtual reality meeting service. You send your avatar to the event and put on a VR headset to see the avatars of colleagues and clients. Techies call these types of VR meetings remote “extended reality,” or XR.

HTC’s latest VR service, called VIVE Sync, will give its VR business unit a lift because users can meet only after the buy the company’s headgear, analysts say. Its gear, also sold under the VIVE brand, has a strong reputation among VR fans. But the novelty of immersive meetings is expected to curb any surge in income. Being new means lots of bugs yet to be worked ou

“Overall, although COVID-19 has generated some demand from remote extended reality devices, especially for those expecting more interactive and immersive experiences, the popularity of the remote XR work platform is still limited,” says Wallace Liu, analyst with Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute in Taipei.    [FULL  STORY]

Company has not revealed size of investment, details of product development regarding new plant

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/05/11
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Apple is increasing its investment in Taiwan by building a new plant in Longtan Science Park, Taoyuan, CNA reported on Monday (May 11).

According to the science park, Apple’s new plant was approved Feb. 18; the company already has an existing facility in the same hi-tech industrial development.

Apple’s Taiwan branch is dedicated to the research, design, development, production and sale of low-temperature polysilicon (LTPS) and oxide thin-film transistor (TFTs) displays, the report said.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 05/11/2020
By: Wu Po-wei and Frances Huang

Taipei, May 11 (CNA) Taiwan has been ranked as the third-best destination for investment in the latest U.S. Business Environment Risk Intelligence (BERI) report, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said Monday.

In a statement, the MOEA said Taiwan received a total score of 61 for profit opportunity recommendation (POR) — the overall indicator used by BERI to evaluate each country as an investment destination.

Though the score was two points lower than Taiwan received in the December 2019 report, it was still the third highest among the 50 countries assessed, up one notch from the previous rankings.

The only two countries ahead of Taiwan in the latest BERI rankings were Switzerland (total POR score 71) and Norway (62).    [FULL  STORY]