The board of China Steel Corp (
However, Chiang may not stay in the position for long as the government is gearing up to appoint former chairman Lin Wen-yuan (
The government is the largest shareholder of China Steel, holding a 22.6 stake in the company. As Chiang is an institutional representative appointed by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the ministry can transfer the appointment to Lin without going through the board.
Lin is currently the chairman of Taiwan Cogeneration Corp (
Chiang took over Lin's position in October 2005 after Lin resigned amid controversy over a stock bonus of more than NT$40 million (US$1.2 million) he received as chief executive officer. Lin had said then that he would donate all of his stock bonuses to charity.
However, the administration supports a comeback for Lin given his strong influence in Kaohsiung, where China Steel is based.
By heading the state-controlled corporation, Lin is expected to help the Democratic Progressive Party garner more votes in next year's presidential election.
A trusted subordinate of President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), Lin is active in political and business circles in Kaohsiung and played an important role in Chen's previous campaign activities in the south.
If Lin returns next month as reported, it will be the fifth change in China Steel's chairmanship in six years -- from Wang Chung-yu (
Chiang's reluctance to carry out the government's name-change campaign -- removing the name "China" from the names of local companies -- also likely played a role in his downfall.
Meanwhile, shareholders of China Steel yesterday also approved a cash dividend of NT$2.78 per share and 30 percent stock dividend.
With the demand for steel and iron expected to rise 5 percent, the company is expected to generate more profit this year, company president Chen Yuan-cheng (陳源成) said, citing statistics provided by the International Iron and Steel Institute.
The company posted after-tax earnings of NT$39.16 billion, or NT$3.56 per share, on sales of NT$177.66 billion last year.
China Steel's production was 9.95 million tonnes last year, up 2.6 percent
from 2005, Chen said. Sales also increased 4.3 percent to 10.22 million
tonnes last year, he said.
Shares of China Steel were unchanged at NT$39.9 on the Taiwan Stock
Exchange, trailing the benchmark TAIEX's 1.1 percent rally.
‘DECENT RESULTS’: The company said it is confident thanks to an improving world economy and uptakes in new wireless and AI technologies, despite US uncertainty Pegatron Corp (和碩) yesterday said it plans to build a new server manufacturing factory in the US this year to address US President Donald Trump’s new tariff policy. That would be the second server production base for Pegatron in addition to the existing facilities in Taoyuan, the iPhone assembler said. Servers are one of the new businesses Pegatron has explored in recent years to develop a more balanced product lineup. “We aim to provide our services from a location in the vicinity of our customers,” Pegatron president and chief executive officer Gary Cheng (鄭光治) told an online earnings conference yesterday. “We
It was late morning and steam was rising from water tanks atop the colorful, but opaque-windowed, “soapland” sex parlors in a historic Tokyo red-light district. Walking through the narrow streets, camera in hand, was Beniko — a former sex worker who is trying to capture the spirit of the area once known as Yoshiwara through photography. “People often talk about this neighborhood having a ‘bad history,’” said Beniko, who goes by her nickname. “But the truth is that through the years people have lived here, made a life here, sometimes struggled to survive. I want to share that reality.” In its mid-17th to
‘MAKE OR BREAK’: Nvidia shares remain down more than 9 percent, but investors are hoping CEO Jensen Huang’s speech can stave off fears that the sales boom is peaking Shares in Nvidia Corp’s Taiwanese suppliers mostly closed higher yesterday on hopes that the US artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer would showcase next-generation technologies at its annual AI conference slated to open later in the day. The GPU Technology Conference (GTC) in California is to feature developers, engineers, researchers, inventors and information technology professionals, and would focus on AI, computer graphics, data science, machine learning and autonomous machines. The event comes at a make-or-break moment for the firm, as it heads into the next few quarters, with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s (黃仁勳) keynote speech today seen as having the ability to
The battle for artificial intelligence supremacy hinges on microchips, but the semiconductor sector that produces them has a dirty secret: It is a major source of chemicals linked to cancer and other health problems. Global chip sales surged more than 19 percent to about US$628 billion last year, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association, which forecasts double-digit growth again this year. That is adding urgency to reducing the effects of “forever chemicals” — which are also used to make firefighting foam, nonstick pans, raincoats and other everyday items — as are regulators in the US and Europe who are beginning to
RSS