Economists waiting to see how long epidemic lasts

Taiwan News
Date:\ 2020/03/11
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Central Bank warned Wednesday (March 11) that the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) could trigger deflation in Taiwan.

Already, the global economy has been feeling the shadow of the epidemic with falling oil prices, extreme instability in the stock markets, and a drop in consumer confidence.

According to a Central Bank report, a plunge in consumption leading to an oversupply of products might easily result in deflation, with prices continuing to fall, CNA reported. Simultaneously, production will fall, wages will shrink, and interest rates and stock prices will plunge.

Predictions for Taiwan’s GDP growth in 2020 have already been slashed, with the government cutting estimates by 0.35 percent to 2.37 percent. Some analysts have even forecast growth dropping below 2 percent.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 03/11/2020
By: Wu Po-wei and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, March 11 (CNA) Taiwan will allow the export of fabric face masks from March 12 until April 30, as domestic production has been increasing, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said Wednesday.

In a notice, the ministry said the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) has given the green light for people in Taiwan to send fabric masks to relatives and friends overseas amid the global spread of coronavirus disease COVID-19.

The term "fabric masks" refers to those made of woven or knitted fabrics that do not have effective filters against micro-particles, according to the ministry.

It said no special export permit will be required to ship such masks abroad during the period March 12 to April 30, only a customs declaration listing the contents of the package.
[FULL  STORY]

TIME FOR ACTION: The US Federal Reserve’s rate cut last week might push up the New Taiwan dollar, which could cause the central bank to step in to fend off speculation

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 12, 2020
By: Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter

The COVID-19 outbreak poses greater risks to Taiwan’s economic and consumer activity than

SARS did in 2003, the central bank said yesterday in a written report, which indicated that there is room for policy action.

Bank Governor Yang Chin-long (楊金龍) is to discuss the risks today at a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee on the effects of the coronavirus.

The report comes exactly one week before the central bank’s quarterly board meeting, at a time when fears over the outbreak have driven peers in the US, the UK and elsewhere to cut interest rates to support economic growth.    [FULL  STORY]

Fierce Pharma
Date: Mar 10, 2020
By:  Eric Palmer

Bora Pharmaceuticals is buying a GlaxoSmithKline consumer plant in Canada. In 2018, it acquired a 400,000-square-foot sterile manufacturing plant in its home country of Taiwan from Impax Laboratories. Bora paid $18.5 million for the facility while Impax took a $74.1 million impairment charge on the deal. (Bora Pharmaceuticals)

The recent GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer consumer joint venture intends to sell off £1 billion worth of assets to raise some cash for operations and is losing no time in doing so. A plant in Canada with 400 employees is now on the front line of that effort while giving a Taiwan-based CDMO a North American manufacturing foothold.  

GSK and Bora Pharmaceuticals announced the deal Monday, saying they expect to close the sale of the consumer products plant by year-end. The 400 plant employees are being offered positions with Bora, while GSK employees on the commercial side housed in offices at the facility will transfer to other GSK sites.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/03/10
By  prnasia.com

Full Year 2019 Highlights (as compared to the Full Year 2018):

• 10.1% Growth in Revenue to US$680.0 Million from US$617.9 Million; Both a Record High and the Highest Annual Revenue Growth Since 2015
• 14.5% Increase in Gross Profit to US$131.3 Million from US$114.7 Million
• 70 Basis Points Improvement in Gross Margin to 19.3% from 18.6%
• Net Earnings of NT$3.55 or US$0.12 per Basic Common Share or US$2.38 per Basic ADS Compared to Net Earnings of NT$1.37 or US$0.05 per Basic Common Share or US$0.92 per Basic ADS
• Generated US$200.4 Million in Cash from Operations in 2019
• NT$1.80 Per Share Distribution Authorized by Board Pending Shareholder Approval at June 9, 2020 AGM

HSINCHU, March 10, 2020 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — ChipMOS TECHNOLOGIES INC. ("ChipMOS" or the "Company") (Taiwan Stock Exchange: 8150 and NASDAQ: IMOS), an industry leading provider of outsourced semiconductor assembly and test services ("OSAT"), today reported unaudited consolidated financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2019. All U.S. dollar figures cited in this press release are based on the exchange rate of NT$29.91 against US$1.00 as of December 31, 2019.

All the figures were prepared in accordance with Taiwan-International Financial Reporting Standards ("Taiwan-IFRS").

Revenue for the fourth quarter of 2019 was NT$5,571.5 million or US$186.3 million, an increase of 3.2% from NT$5,399.1 million or US$180.5 million in the third quarter of 2019 and an increase of 12.1% from NT$4,972.3 million or US$166.2 million for the same period in 2018. Net profit attributable to equity holders of the Company for the fourth quarter of 2019 was NT$530.0 million or US$17.7 million, and NT$0.73 or US$0.02 per basic common share, as compared to net profit attributable to equity holders of the Company for the third quarter of 2019 of NT$585.9 million or US$19.6 million, and NT$0.81 or US$0.03 per basic common share, and compared to net profit attributable to equity holders of the Company in the fourth quarter of 2018 of NT$516.6 million or US$17.3 million, and NT$0.71 or US$0.02 per basic common share. Net earnings for the fourth quarter of 2019 were US$0.49 per basic ADS, compared to US$0.54 per basic ADS for the third quarter of 2019 and US$0.48 per basic ADS in the fourth quarter of 2018.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 03/10/2020
By: Chang Chien-chung and Frances Huang

Taipei, March 10 (CNA) Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world's largest contract chipmaker, on Tuesday reported a 9.9 percent monthly drop in its February sales, which market analysts attributed to the usual first-quarter slow season for the global semiconductor industry.

In a statement, TSMC posted NT$93.39 billion (US$3.11 billion) in consolidated sales for February, which was its highest monthly figure ever, despite the 9.9 percent decline from a month earlier.

The company's February sales were also 53.4 percent higher than a year earlier, when the global semiconductor industry was in a period of inventory adjustments, according TSMC data.

For the first two months of 2020, TSMC's consolidated sales totaled NT$197.08 billion, up 41.8 percent from a year earlier, the data showed.    [FULL  STORY]

EARLY BIRD SPECIAL: Despite pricing its trial rate plan at half of what Taiwan’s three biggest telecoms have offered, Taiwan Star urged rivals to forgo a price war

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 11, 2020
By: Lisa Wang / Staff reporter

Taiwan Star Telecom Co (台灣之星) yesterday launched a rate plan for 4G subscribers to try its 5G technology at less than half the price of similar trial packages offered by the nation’s three biggest telecoms, signaling the possible start of a 5G price war.

With its new “early bird” packages, Taiwan Star offers subscribers two-year, 4G rate plans of at least NT$599 (US$19.94) with unlimited data that are to upgrade to 5G once services launch.

Subscribers can start the trial plan now or withhold the package until the commercial launch of 5G services in the fourth quarter, Taiwan Star said.

The NT$599 plan was first launched in Taiwan in 2014, when Taiwan Star entered the telecom market and began rolling out unconventional rate plans to sabotage the pricing schemes of the nation’s three largest telecoms.    [FULL  SORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 03/09/2020
By: Frances Huang

Taipei, March 9 (CNA) Shares in Taiwan took a beating Monday, shedding more than 300 points, as investors were shocked by global volatility at a time of an escalating spread of COVID-19 coronavirus worldwide and a plunge in international crude oil prices, dealers said.

The bellwether electronics sector led the downturn throughout the trading session amid worries over global demand, while selling in petrochemical stocks caused by a weakening energy market added downward pressure to drag down the main board to the lowest level at the close, the dealers said.

The weighted index on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE), or Taiex, closed down 344.17 points, or 3.04 percent, at the day's low of 10,977.64, coming off a high of 11,221.76, on turnover of NT$230.97 billion (US$7.70 billion).

The market opened down 0.89 percent in the wake of a plunge of almost 1,200 points in the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures, which pointed to a sharp fall on the spot market later in the day, and a more-than 20 percent tumble in international crude oil prices in the Asian markets Monday, the dealers said.    [FULL  STORY]

‘TRADE MOMENTUM’: The improvement in the annual figure is mainly caused by a low comparison base last year and does not signal a sustained recovery, MOF said

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 10, 2020
By: Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter

Exports last month soared 24.9 percent from a year earlier to US$25.38 billion as local manufacturers raised capacity to make up for production disruptions in China amid the COVID-19 outbreak, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday.

The increase could have exceeded 30 percent in the absence of the disease, which might push trade figures into contraction mode this month and beyond, if it evolves into a global threat and hurts the end market, the ministry said.

“The improvement in trade data had much to do with a low comparison base last year linked to the Lunar New Year,” Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) told a media briefing in Taipei.

Container ships are docked at the Port of Kaohsiung on Feb. 23. Taiwan’s exports last month rose 24.9 percent from a year earlier.

Photo: EPA-EFE / DAVID CHANG

Local firms stepped up production at home to make up for capacity shortages in China, Tsai said, adding that capacity adjustments are not order transfers.    [FULL  STORY]