Following its acquisition by the Far Eastern Group (遠東集團) early last year, Far Eastern Geant (愛買吉安) is aggressively expanding to demonstrate its commitment to the domestic market.
The nation's third-largest hypermarket chain expects to add at least one new store per year to its existing 14 outlets nationwide to strengthen its economies of scale, company president Pascal Billaud told reporters yesterday.
It also plans to remodel some of the stores to boost its image and provide a pleasant shopping environment, he added.
These new projects are being backed by its parent company, Far Eastern Department Stores Ltd (
Last September, French retailer Casino Guichard-Perrachon SA sold its 50 percent holding -- worth NT$738 million -- in Far Eastern Geant to Far Eastern Department Stores following its decision to exit the local market and focus on emerging markets such as Brazil and Thailand in search of faster sales growth.
Far Eastern Geant posted sales of more than NT$13 billion last year, up 11 percent from 2005, Billaud said. The company remained in the red, however.
He made the remarks during a press briefing in Taichung after the reopening ceremony for the company's Chungkang (中港) store, whose one-year refurbishment project cost millions of NT dollars.
Customer response to the remodeling of the Taichung store has been positive, the firm said, with sales last month jumping 50 percent from the same period last year.
The company this year plans to strengthen its private label product mix and offer a better range of household appliances, marketing director Fiona Wang (
By integrating the group's resources, the Far Eastern Group is also building an online store to lure Internet-savvy consumers, who can order products from the hypermarket. The electronic platform will be formally launched in a few months, Billaud said.
VALUABLE STOCK: The company closed at NT$1,005 a share, on demand for AI and HPC chips, and is expected to issue a positive report during its earnings conference Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) shares rose 2.66 percent to close at a record high of NT$1,005 yesterday. as investors expect the company to continue benefiting from strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) chips. TSMC is the 19th member of the local bourse’s NT$1,000 stock club, which includes smartphone chip designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) and electric transformer manufacturer Fortune Electric Co (華城電機). Yesterday’s rally swelled TSMC’s market capitalization to NT$26.06 trillion (US$802.3 billion) and contributed about 211 points to the TAIEX, which closed up 350.1 points, or 1.51 percent, to 23,522.53, another record high, Taiwan Stock
Luxgen Motor Co (納智捷汽車), a subsidiary of Yulon Motor Co (裕隆汽車), yesterday said it is again offering a NT$100,000 discount for its entry-level n7 electric vehicle models. The n7’s price has gone down from NT$1.099 million to NT$999,000, Luxgen said, adding that there are 25,000 preorders for the model. MG Motor’s electric hatchback, the MG4, entered the market in the middle of last month, with a starting price of NT$990,000. China Motor Corp (中華汽車), which distributes MG vehicles in Taiwan, said it aims to sell 1,600 MG4s this year. MG, originally a British brand, was acquired by China’s SAIC Motor
Google on Monday said it is planning to invest in New Green Power Co (NGP, 永鑫能源), a solar energy developer owned by BlackRock Inc, to build 1 gigawatt of solar capacity in Taiwan to supply clean energy for its local data center and offices. “Our investment in NGP, subject to regulatory approval, will serve as development capital toward its 1 GW pipeline of new solar projects, catalyzing critical equity and debt financing for those projects,” Google’s Data Center Energy global head Amanda Peterson Corio wrote on a company blog. It did not disclose financial details. “We expect to procure up to 300 megawatts
‘MORE PRACTICAL’: If the cap were lowered, it would spark an influx of funds that would be difficult to track as insurance firms adjust to the new rules, an official said Overseas investment would remain capped at 45 percent of local insurers’ total assets, as there are scant investment tools at home and potentially significant losses from sudden divestments, the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) said yesterday. The commission’s comments came in response to a legislator’s concern over the effect of a proposed revision to the Insurance Act (保險法) to lower the upper limit to 25 percent. The revision was proposed by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lo Ming-tsai (羅明才). The proposed 25 percent cap is even lower than the 35 percent implemented before 2007. About 17 years ago, the legislature raised the upper limit