Business and Finance

Eslite to shut down Taitung store end of April

Focus Taiwan
Date: 04/11/2020
By: Lu Tai-cheng and Frances Huang

Taipei, April 11 (CNA) Eslite Spectrum Corp., which runs the popular Eslite bookstore chain in Taiwan, has confirmed that it is closing its Taitung store at the end of April when the lease for the site expires.

The Eslite store is housed in a historic building of Japanese architecture in Taitung City, which was once the site of the Taitung Land Department and is now a cultural and art center.

Amid rumors that the Taitung bookstore was about to close, Eslite confirmed Friday that due to expiration of its lease, it will shut down its operations there April 30.

The Eslite store in Taitung, which opened in September 2007, was one of the first major bookstores in eastern Taiwan.    [FULL  STORY]

FPG posts losses of NT$13.99bn

CORONAVIRUS WOES: Nan Ya Plastics was the only one of the four main units to post a profit due to its circuit board business seeing growing demand due to 5G deployments

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 11, 2020
By: Natasha Li / Staff reporter

The four major subsidiaries of Formosa Plastics Group (FPG, 台塑集團), the nation’s largest industrial conglomerate, yesterday posted combined losses of NT$13.99 billion (US$464.74 million) for last quarter, marking the group’s worst financial performance in five years.

Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化), the largest of the group’s four listed companies, reported a loss of NT$9.99 billion for last quarter, or losses per share of NT$1.05.

The company blamed plummeting crude oil prices and weakening demand amid the COVID-19 pandemic, as prices of its naphtha and alkene products fell, dealing a heavy blow to its oil refining business.

An inventory loss of NT$5.26 billion also added to last quarter’s poor performance.
[FULL  STORY]

Taiwan’s innovation bags gold in 2020 Edison Awards

Low-cost adhesive solution 'Celluad' from ITRI wins over judges with strong adhesion and water resistance

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/04/09
By: Chris Chang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Celluad facilitates making of eco-friendly, non-volatile plywood products (ITRI photo)

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan's Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) received a gold 2020 Edison Award in the Material Sciences & Engineering category with its innovative adhesive solution "Celluad".

This is the first gold that ITRI has ever received from the Edison Awards; the national institute previously won a bronze award for its bionic knobby magnetic beads manufacturing technology iKNOBEADS in March.

According to the ITRI, Celluad is a formaldehyde-free wood adhesive using an abandoned cellulose derivative as its main raw material and can be applied to plywood, flooring, and lumber core board. Unlike soy protein-based formaldehyde-free wood adhesives, Celluad is less expensive and avoids food-wasting.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan shares open lower

Focus Taiwan
Date: 04/10/2020
By: Y.F. Low

Taipei, April 10 (CNA) The Taiwan Stock Exchange's main index opened down 14 points at 10,105.43 Friday on turnover of NT$1.52 billion (US$50.45 million).    [SOURCE]

Virus Outbreak: Largan says outlook bleak

ILL EFFECTS: The nation’s leading camera lens maker said that order visibility for June is nil, but it could easily ramp up production if market conditions change

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 10, 2020
By: Natasha Li / Staff reporter

Largan Precision Co (大立光), the nation’s leading camera lens manufacturer, yesterday gave a bleak outlook for this quarter due to the uncertainty engendered by the COVID-19 pandemic, after posting its strongest-ever first-quarter net profit, which surged 32.97 percent year-on-year to NT$6.72 billion (US$222.87 million).

This figure translated into earnings per share of NT$50.1, up from NT$37.68 a year earlier.

Revenue last quarter increased 34.52 percent to NT$13.21 billion.

Gross margin climbed to 69.8 percent from 64.24 percent, thanks to an improved product mix, as well as higher average selling prices (ASP), the company said.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan may suffer from demand collapse amid coronavirus fallout

Lower demand for imports in Europe, US to impact export-driven Taiwan

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/04/06
By: Huang Tzu-ti, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Two shop assistants wait for customers at a fashion store in Monte Napoleone shopping street in Milan, Italy. (AP photo)

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan may need to brace for a heavy blow to its economy dealt by plummeting global demand as the coronavirus grinds economic activity around the world to a halt.

As an export-oriented economy, Taiwan is susceptible to shrinking demand from the end market in Western countries, said Darson Chiu (邱達生), vice president of the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER).

Earlier concerns had been focused on the derailment of the supply chain, as the virus outbreak started in China, the world's largest production base, wrote CNA. The shift of the epicenter from China to Europe and the U.S., however, has led to faltering consumer demand as lockdowns are imposed worldwide.

Analysts at Germany-based investment bank Berenberg reckon the outbreak will thrust all advanced economies into a recession this year, reported CNBC. That gloomy forecast was echoed by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), which predicted on March 26 that the global economy will contract by 2.2 percent in 2020.    [FULL  STORY]

Food delivery company Deliveroo to cease operations in Taiwan

Focus Taiwan
Date: 04/06/2020
By: Tsai Peng-min and Lee Hsin-Yin

CNA file photo

Taipei, April 6 (CNA) British online food delivery company Deliveroo announced Monday that it will cease its operations in Taiwan from 3 p.m., April 10, as it plans to relocate its corporate resources around the world.

In a statement, the company said it decided to withdraw from the Taiwan market because it wants to concentrate on Europe, the Middle East and other parts of the Asia-Pacific region, but added that it will not rule out returning to Taiwan in the future.

"The company has made sure to offer its nearly 1,500 food deliverers and staff appropriate compensation, which is better than what is required by law," Deliveroo said.

If customers still have money in their Deliveroo accounts, they shall receive refunds in three to five business days after April 10, the company added.    [FULL  STORY]

Debt in Taiwan manageable: DBS

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 07, 2020
By: Chen Cheng-hui / Staff reporter

The level of corporate and household debt in Taiwan remains manageable, despite an income shock amid the COVID-19 pandemic and mounting stress in global financial markets, DBS Bank Ltd (星展銀行) said in a report last week.

The Singapore-based bank published its report as part of its latest assessment of the potential credit risks in Taiwan and South Korea.

The analysis said that South Korea’s corporate and household sectors, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the service industry, are highly leveraged and should be particularly vulnerable.

In Taiwan, the corporate debt situation is not particularly worrisome, DBS said, adding that banks’ loans to the corporate sector increased 4.8 percent year-on-year last year, slowing from an increase of 5.6 percent in 2018, while SME loans also grew at a slower pace of 5.6 percent last year, compared with a rise of 6.4 percent the previous year.    [FULL  STORY]

Foxconn offering university graduates starting pay of NT$45,000

Master's degree employees will receive NT$52,000, while doctorate degree workers are offered NT$60,000 per month

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/04/03
By:  Central News Agency

Taiwan-based manufacturing giant Foxconn Technology Group has launched a recruitment drive, offering a monthly salary of no less than NT$45,000 (US$1,485) to university graduates.

For those with a master's degree, the starting pay will be NT$52,000 per month at the minimum, while doctorate degree holders will earn at least NT$60,000 a month, Foxconn announced in a statement issued earlier this week. The latest recruitment drive is aimed at attracting talent mainly in the core technology areas of artificial intelligence, semiconductors, and next generation mobile communications, and also in the emerging industries of electric cars, digital healthcare, and robotics, the company said.

In addition, the company said, it will offer comprehensive training in technology, management, and general knowledge to help its new employees build successful careers. For example, all employees hired in the latest round of recruitment will be trained to become mid-range management staff in the future, said Foxconn.

It urged interested persons to apply via its website and said interviews of selected applicants will also be conducted online. Foxconn, the world's largest contract electronics maker, has been working to expand into the development of software and to integrate that with its hardware manufacturing proficiency.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan’s aid agency promotes financial inclusion in Palau

Focus Taiwan
Date: 04/03/2020
By: Emerson Lim

Image taken from Pixabay

Taipei, April 3 (CNA) The International Cooperation and Development Fund (ICDF), a development aid agency founded by Taiwan's foreign ministry, will soon help cash-strapped people and businesses in Palau through a financial inclusion scheme.

The program, which took effect after the signing of an agreement on March 30, is aimed at promoting inclusive and sustainable growth in the Pacific island nation, ICDF's public relations officer Alex Chang (張子弋) told CNA on Friday.

Under the plan, the ICDF and National Development Bank of Palau (NDBP) will team up to offer microfinance services to women, young people, and micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), which often have trouble obtaining loans, Chang said.

The ICDF will provide funds to NDBP, which will then loan out the funds based on its credit review procedures and also set up an assistance office to guide borrowers on how to utilize the money to improve their lives or create their own business, he said.    [FULL  STORY]