Business and Finance

Asustek’s new VivoWatch set to go on sale in Taiwan

Want China Times
Date: 2015-04-25
By: CNA

Asustek plans to launch its new VivoWatch on its home turf next week, making

The VivoWatch. (Photo courtesy of Asustek official website)

The VivoWatch. (Photo courtesy of Asustek official website)

Taiwan one of the first markets in the world where the fitness-centric smartwatch will be available.

In an invitation sent to Taiwanese media on Friday, Asustek said it will host a press event in Taipei on April 30 to announce details and pricing for the VivoWatch, which was previewed at the Milan Design Week show on April 14-19.

It remains unclear whether the smartwatch will be launched in other markets in its initial wave of availability.

The VivoWatch will run on Asustek’s own operating system, enabling its battery to last longer than if run on Google’s Android Wear, which allows only limited software customization, a source with knowledge of the matter told CNA earlier this week.     [FULL  STORY]

Catcher Technology forecast to see Q1 EPS surge

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/04/25
By: Lo Hsiu-wen and Frances Huang

Taipei, April 25 (CNA) The earnings per share of casing maker Catcher 201504250016t0001Technology Co. (可成) surged in the first quarter from a year earlier, Daiwa Securities has forecast, based on the manufacturers’ better-than-expected sales in the quarter.

In a research note, the Japanese brokerage said that Catcher is expected to report NT$6.7 (US$0.22) in EPS for the January-March period when it announces its detailed first quarter results on April 28.

That would be sharply higher than NT$3.97 in EPS recorded in the same period of 2014.     [FULL  STORY]

Industrial index exceeds expectations

OIL PRICE IMPACT:Department of Statistics official Yang Kuei-hsien said a surge in the chemicals sector was surprising and hinted that oil price influences have eased

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 24, 2015
By: Lauly Li  /  Staff reporter

Taiwan’s industrial production index grew at a better-than-expected 6.49 percent annually to 111.56 points last month, supported by output from the electronics, machinery and chemicals sectors, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.

The index marked the 14th consecutive month of annual growth, data showed.

The growth momentum outpaced the market’s consensus estimate of 5.51 percent, a UBS report said.     [FULL  STORY]

Local bourse soars led by financial stocks

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/04/23
By: Jalen Chung and Frances Huang

Taipei, April 23 (CNA) Shares in Taiwan spiked Thursday to its highest level in 201504230017t0001seven and a half years, as buying rotated to the financial sector amid hopes that Taipei and Shanghai will launch a platform to trade stocks on both exchanges, dealers said.

The buying was focused on financial holding companies that have big securities business operations, since investors and securities were optimistic that they would benefit from such trade liberalization, dealers said.

The bellwether electronics sector extended its gains from the previous session, led by semiconductor stocks, as investors here were encouraged by the 1.37 percent gain by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index overnight, dealers said.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwanese banks keen to profit from Belt and Road initiative

Want China Times
Date: 2015-04-20
By: Wei Chiao-yi and Staff Reporter

Taiwanese banks are eyeing the benefits of China’s “Belt and Road” initiative in Southeast Asia, which also involves infrastructure projects in Central Asia and the Middle East, reports our Chinese-language sister paper Commercial Times.

The Belt and Road initiative is a set of plans with an economic scope of US$21 trillion covering an area inhabited by 4.4 billion people. The Taiwanese banks that are interested include Bank SinoPac, CTBC Bank, Cathay United Bank, Taishin International Bank, Taipei Fubon Bank, E Sun Bank, First Bank and Mega International Commercial Bank.

A spokesperson for a bank whose name was not mentioned in the report said Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Committee has a plan that will lead to a win-win situation for Taiwanese banks both by cooperating with Asian countries and working with China in the Belt and Road initiative. The spokesperson foresees a boom in Taiwanese banks establishing bureaus in Southeast Asian countries.     [FULL  STORY]

Ministry predicts deficit to drop as tax revenue rises

Taipei Times
Date:  Apr 21, 2015
By: Crystal Hsu  /  Staff reporter

The government has gained some headway in reining in public debt, with the budget shortfall expected to drop this year as a record-high increase in tax revenues outpaces debt growth, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday.

The easing would give the government more room for debt financing to meet unforeseen spending needs if necessary, Minister of Finance Chang Sheng-ford (張盛和) said at a meeting of the legislature’s Finance Committee in Taipei.

The budget deficit is estimated at NT$158 billion (US$5.08 billion) for this year, down significantly from NT$209.1 billion last year, as the introduction of a feedback mechanism has started to pay off, the minister said.     [FULL  STORY]

Value of export orders in March up 1.3% year-on-year

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/04/20
By: Huang Chiao-wen and Kuo Chung-han

Taipei, April 20 (CNA) The value of orders placed by foreign businesses with Taiwanese firms in March increased by 1.3 percent year-on-year to US$38.43 billion, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said Monday.

Tallying the numbers for the January-March period, the aggregate value of foreign orders received by local companies in the first three months totaled US$107.36 billion, a 2.5 percent increase over the same period of 2014, said the ministry.     [FULL  STORY]

ITRI to set up 10 new innovation firms this year

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/04/18
By: Jackson Chang and Frances Huang

Taipei, April 18 (CNA) Taiwan’s government-sponsored Industrial Technology Research I201504180006t0001nstitute (ITRI, 工業技術研究院) is planning to set up 10 new innovation companies by the end of this year.

Tsay Ching-yen (蔡清彥), chairman of the ITRI, said the institute will continue to focus on high-tech research and development and use the achievements of its research to build new innovation firms.

Starting from 2011, the ITRI has been pushing for R&D, paving the way for opening new companies backed by the institute’s technology know-how.

In the past four years, the ITRI has set up a total of 33 new innovation firms in a wide range of industries, such as optoelectronics, information/communications, production materials, biotechnology, machinery and renewable energy technology.     [FULL  STORY]

Local banks’ exposure to China decreased last year

Taipei Times
Date:  Apr 20, 2015
By: Staff writer, with CNA

Lending from banks operating in Taiwan to China as of the end of December last year fell from the end of September, reflecting a decline in deposits placed by local banks in the Bank of China’s Taipei branch, the central bank (中華民國中央銀行) said.

Still, China remained the largest debtor to Taiwan’s banks, central bank statistics showed.

The bank said that outstanding international claims by Taiwanese banks to China on a direct-risk basis as of the end of December totaled US$49.14 billion, down 4.3 percent from the prior quarter.     [FULL  STORY]

High-end commercial property transactions down over 60% in Q1

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/04/18
By: Wei Shu and Frances Huang

Taipei, April 18 (CNA) The value of high-end commercial property in Taiwan for the first quarter 201504180009t0001of this year fell more than 60 percent from a quarter earlier, according to statistics compiled by Yung Ching Realty Group (永慶房屋集團) with analysts attributing the fall to cautious sentiment toward a government tax reform plan.

During the January-March period, the transaction value of stores, offices and factories carrying a price of tag of NT$100 million (US$3.21 million) or higher each in Taiwan totaled NT$8.49 billion, down 62.5 percent from a quarter earlier, the data showed.

The first quarter figure actually fell to a three-year quarterly low, the statistics indicated.     [FULL  STORY]