Business and Finance

Holtek’s net profit drops 15.4 percent

‘CLEARER’ OUTLOOK: Customers were cautious in the third quarter, but demand is recovering for microcontroller units used in brushless DC motors, a spokesman said

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 29, 2019
By: Lisa Wang  /  Staff reporter

Holtek Semiconductor Inc (盛群半導體), the nation’s largest designer of microcontroller units for consumer electronics, yesterday said its net profit shrank 15.4 percent year-on-year last quarter, as a US-China trade dispute dampened customer demand.

Net profit dropped to NT$221.87 million (US$7.26 million), compared with NT$262.35 million a year earlier, while earnings per share (EPS) slid to NT$0.98 from NT$1.16, the company said.

On a quarterly basis, net profit fell 12.9 percent from NT$254.87 million, or EPS of NT$1.13.

Gross margin improved to 50.7 percent last quarter from 49.4 percent a year earlier and 49.3 percent a quarter earlier.    [FULL  STORY]

ASUS is Taiwan’s best brand for 7th consecutive year

Top 20 Taiwan companies experience growth in total value despite a background of global trade disputes

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/10/26
By: Alex Wu , Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Best Taiwan Global Brands (MOEA photo)

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) － ASUS has topped the list of Taiwan’s best global brands for a seventh consecutive year despite a 4 percent decrease in value, as reported by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) on Thursday (Oct.24).

The survey of Taiwan’s international brands was conducted by Interbrand, using the same system it adopts for evaluating the best global brands, said the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Industrial of Development Bureau. In 2019, ASUS also made Fortune’s “World’s Most Admired Companies” list and Forbes’ “Top Regarded Companies” list, and won 22 of Germany’s iF Product Design Awards, according to ASUS.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan to raise poverty line in six cities, counties next year

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/10/28
By:  Central News Agency

The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced Saturday that the minimum cost of living in six cities and counties of Taiwan will be raised next year, meaning that more low-income and lower-middle income households will be eligible for government subsidies.

The six cities and countries are Taipei, New Taipei, Taoyuan, Taichung and the offshore Kinmen and Lienchiang counties.

Among Taiwan's six major municipalities, the poverty line for low-income households in Taipei will be raised by the largest amount from NT$16,580 (US$554) to NT$17,005, the ministry said.

For lower-middle income households, the poverty line in Taipei will be moved up to NT$24,293, the ministry said.    [FULL  STORY]

Fuel prices in Taiwan to rise this week

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/10/27
By: Wu Po-wei and Chiang Yi-ching

Taipei, Oct. 27 (CNA) Taiwan's two major fuel suppliers announced prices hikes for this week Sunday, citing an increase in international crude oil prices amid easing trade tensions between the U.S. and China and a decrease in U.S. crude inventories.

State-run oil refiner CPC Corp., Taiwan said the price of its gasoline and diesel will increase by NT$0.1 (US$0.003) per liter, beginning midnight Sunday.

Following the adjustments, retail prices at CPC gas stations will be NT$26.4 per liter for 92 octane unleaded, NT$27.9 per liter for 95 unleaded, NT$29.9 per liter for 98 unleaded and NT$24.2 per liter for super diesel.

CPC said that international crude oil prices have risen, in part due to the U.S. and China being close to finalizing the first stage of a trade agreement.    [FULL  STORY]

Win Semiconductors sees solid quarter

CHIPMAKER: Demand for products from its smartphone customers has been increasing and next year is likely to be strong as well on the back of 5G phones and applications

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 28, 2019
By: Lisa Wang  /  Staff reporter

Win Semiconductors Corp (Win Semi, 穩懋半導體) holds a strong outlook for the current quarter, thanks to resilient demand from smartphone and infrastructure segments.

The world’s largest compound semiconductor foundry, which is 4.72 percent owned by Avago Technologies Ltd, last week said it expects revenue to grow by a mid-single-digit percentage to a record high, compared with the NT$6.4 billion (US$209.2 million at the current exchange rate) that it made last quarter.

That would boost revenue this year by 20 percent from last year’s NT$17.31 billion, the company forecast on Friday.

“Almost all smartphone customers are showing increased demand for our products in the fourth quarter, compared with the third quarter,” Win Semi president Steven Chen (陳舜平) told investors in a teleconference.    [FULL  STORY]

StarLux to receive first Airbus aircraft

New Taiwanese airline will begin commercial flight operations in January 2020

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/10/25
By: Duncan Deaeth, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The newest Taiwanese airline to join the market, StarLux Airlines, is receiving one of its new Airbus A231neo aircraft on Friday (Oct.25) in a handover ceremony taking place in Hamburg, Germany.

The CEO of StarLux, Chang Kuo-wei (張國煒), is reportedly in Germany to accept ownership of the plane. The new aircraft is expected to arrive in Hualien, Taiwan, Monday morning.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan’s machinery output forecast to grow 4% in 2020

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/10/25
By: Chung Jung-feng and Frances Huang

Taipei, Oct. 25 (CNA) The production value of Taiwan's machinery industry will grow about 4 percent

CNA file photo for illustrative purpose only

in 2020, boosted by rising demand from overseas Taiwanese manufacturers returning home to avoid tariffs on Chinese-made goods, a government sponsored institute said Friday.

The Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) estimated at an industrial development forum that the value of the output of Taiwan's machinery sector will grow 4 percent in 2020 from an anticipated NT$1.06 trillion (US$34.75 billion) for 2019.

Hsiung Chih-min (熊治民), a manager of ITRI's Industrial Economics and Knowledge Center, said the global trade war has led many Taiwanese firms to return home to invest, and the impact on machinery demand of that trend should become more obvious in the second quarter of 2020.

The expected gains in 2020 will also be the result of a relatively low base of comparison in 2019, when production value will likely end up down around 9 percent from 2018 because of falling demand caused by the trade war, Hsiung said.    [FULL  STORY]

Speaker sales boost Merry profit

NO STRINGS ATTACHED: Merry Electronics is negotiating orders for its true wireless stereo headphones, which are set to significantly contribute to revenue next year

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 26, 2019
By: Natasha Li  /  Staff reporter

Audio electronics maker Merry Electronics Co Ltd (美律), a speaker supplier for Apple Inc’s iPhones, yesterday issued a cautiously optimistic outlook for the fourth quarter after it posted a net profit of NT$890.07 million (US$29.09 million) for last quarter, a 14.66 percent quarter-on-quarter increase.

The Taichung-based company posted revenue of NT$10.1 billion for last quarter, up from NT$10.06 billion the previous quarter, as it benefited from growing orders for smartphone speakers, Merry president Allen Huang (黃朝豊) said at an earnings conference in Taipei.

Orders should remain steady throughout this quarter as new smartphone models hit the market, he said.

Gross margin, while within the company’s expectations, dipped to 14 percent last quarter from 16 percent in the second quarter due to a higher proportion of sales being speakers, which yield a lower gross margin, he added.    [FULL  STORY]

MOST honors Taiwan delegation for successes at MedTech Conference in US

12-person delegation expands reach of Taiwan's medical technology industry

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/10/24
By: Duncan Deaeth, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) on Thursday (Oct. 24)

MOST receives Taiwanese delegation from 2019 MedTech Conference. (CNA photo)

welcomed members of the Taiwanese delegation that had attended the international MedTech Conference 2019 last month in Boston, Massachusetts.

Members of the 12-person team recently returned to Taiwan after several weeks in the U.S. establishing partnerships with major players in the medical technology industry. CNA reports that the delegates were successful in establishing links with 180 potential future partners thanks to their work at the Taiwan Tech Arena at the MedTech Conference held Sept. 23-25.    [FULL  STORY]

Paper-making firm unveils Taiwan’s largest biogas energy system

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/10/24
By: Pan Yi-ching and Ko Lin

Taipei, Oct. 24 (CNA) A paper-making plant in northern Taiwan unveiled Thursday the country's largest biogas production system which, once fully operational in 2020, is expected to supply power to about 10,000 households each year.

The system developed by Yuen Foong Yu Paper Manufacturing Co. based in Hsinwu District, Taoyuan, is made up of three biogas-powered generators that can produce 28,000 cubic meters of biogas daily and provide 3,960KW of power to the electricity grid every day.

Two of the three generators are currently operational, with the third scheduled for completion in Q3 next year, said Yuen Foong Yu Chairman Ho Shou-chuan (何壽川).

According to the company, once the third generator is installed and running at its Hsinwu plant, the system will generate an annual capacity of 32,000MW of electricity and power about 10,000 households.    [FULL  STORY]