Lyu appointed to Mega job
The Ministry of Finance yesterday appointed former minister without portfolio Joseph Lyu (呂桔誠) as the replacement for outgoing Mega Financial Holding Co (兆豐金控) chairman Cheng Shen-chih (鄭深池), a ministry statement said.
Lyu will double as chairman of the firm's subsidiary, Mega International Commercial Bank (兆豐國際商銀), the statement said.
The ministry also appointed Kaohsiung City Government Finance Bureau chief Ray Dawn (董瑞斌) to be Mega Financial's president and the chairman of subsidiary Mega Bills Finance Co (兆豐票券), the statement said.
Mega's incumbent president, Mckinney Tsai (蔡友才), will move to head Mega Investment Trust Corp (兆豐國際投信), it said.
The three nominations are expected to be approved at the firm's board meeting today.
Election result boosts shares
Taiwan's share prices closed 1.79 percent higher yesterday after a landslide victory by the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) in weekend parliamentary elections, dealers said.
The weighted index closed up 144.10 points at 8,173.41, having traded in a range of 8,260.88 to 8,097.68 on turnover of NT$168.10 billion (US$5.19 billion).
The tourism sector was up 6.92 percent, cement added 6.54 percent, financials rose 5.64 percent, construction was up 5.16 percent, textiles advanced 5.16 percent and transport rose 2.36 percent.
The electronics sector was down 0.79 percent.
The KMT's win raised hopes for better cross-strait economic ties, giving a boost to tourism-related stocks, dealers said.
Frank Lin, senior vice president at Fubon Securities (富邦證券), said investors were willing to build their investments after the KMT's unexpectedly strong showing.
"Investors are pinning their hopes on better cross-strait relations, no matter who wins the presidential election in March," Lin said.
He said that investors expected more Chinese visitors would be given permission to enter Taiwan.
If that materializes, Lin said "it will boost domestic demand not only for hotels, but also for other related services."
An increase in domestic demand would also help increase the value of assets, he added.
Gold hits record in Hong Kong
Hong Kong gold prices yesterday closed above US$900 for the first time as investors search for a safe haven amid fears of a US economic slowdown and stock market turmoil.
The precious metal closed at US$908 an ounce after passing the US$900 mark at around 2:30pm -- up US$15.50 an ounce from Friday's close of US$892.50, dealers said.
The price had broken through the US$900 mark during trading in New York on Friday following a speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke that was thought to indicate there could be more US interest rate cuts.
Formosa Plastics optimistic
Formosa Plastics Group (台塑), Taiwan's biggest diversified industrial company, expects revenue to rise to a record this year as it expands production.
Revenue will climb from last year's NT$2 trillion (US$62 billion), CEO William Wong (王文淵) told reporters in Mailiao Township (麥寮), Yunlin County, yesterday, without giving an estimate. Sales last year increased 20 percent from 2006, he said.
Formosa Plastics is expanding output to meet demand for its products from manufacturers that make goods including drinking bottles, toys and garments.
"The market was exceptionally good last year as sales in countries such as Vietnam, the US and China all rose quite a lot," Wong said.
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STILL HOPEFUL: Delayed payment of NT$5.35 billion from an Indian server client sent its earnings plunging last year, but the firm expects a gradual pickup ahead Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), the world’s No. 5 PC vendor, yesterday reported an 87 percent slump in net profit for last year, dragged by a massive overdue payment from an Indian cloud service provider. The Indian customer has delayed payment totaling NT$5.35 billion (US$162.7 million), Asustek chief financial officer Nick Wu (吳長榮) told an online earnings conference. Asustek shipped servers to India between April and June last year. The customer told Asustek that it is launching multiple fundraising projects and expected to repay the debt in the short term, Wu said. The Indian customer accounted for less than 10 percent to Asustek’s
Gasoline and diesel prices this week are to decrease NT$0.5 and NT$1 per liter respectively as international crude prices continued to fall last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. Effective today, gasoline prices at CPC and Formosa stations are to decrease to NT$29.2, NT$30.7 and NT$32.7 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, while premium diesel is to cost NT$27.9 per liter at CPC stations and NT$27.7 at Formosa pumps, the companies said in separate statements. Global crude oil prices dropped last week after the eight OPEC+ members said they would