TSMC board passes capex plan
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s top contract chipmaker, yesterday said its board of directors has approved a capital appropriation of US$3.05 billion, mainly for expansion of advanced capacity.
The board also approved a proposal to inject US$2 billion into wholly owned subsidiary TSMC Global Ltd to reduce its foreign-exchange hedging costs.
In addition, the board gave the go-ahead to the promotion of general counsel Sylvia Fan (方淑華) and director of human resources Connie Ma (馬慧凡) as company vice presidents.
Acer unveils newest laptop
PC vendor Acer Inc (宏碁) yesterday unveiled the world’s first Chromebook laptop powered by a mobile chipset from Nvidia Corp to expand its line of Web-centric computers.
The Acer Chromebook 13 will start shipping later this month and will be available in European, North American and Asia-Pacific markets with a starting price of US$279, the company said in a press release.
The company posted its latest sales results on Monday, with consolidated revenue declining 31.29 percent sequentially to NT$25.11 billion (US$835.3 million) last month due to inventory adjustment. On an annual basis, consolidated sales last month were down 12.05 percent. Cumulative sales in the first seven months of the year totaled NT$183.19 billion, down 12.71 percent from a year earlier, the company said.
Formosa Plastics to sell shares
Formosa Plastics Corp (FPC, 台塑), the nation’s largest producer of polyvinyl chloride, said on Monday that it plans to sell about 42.5 million shares of Formosa Petrochemical Corp (FPCC, 台塑化) by the end of this year.
Based on Formosa Petrochemical’s closing price of NT$73.7 on Monday in Taipei, Formosa Plastics would generate an income of NT$3.13 billion from selling its holding in the nation’s only listed oil refiner.
The company’s announcement followed those made by Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corp (台化), which produces aromatics and styrenics, and Nan Ya Plastics Corp (南亞塑膠), the nation’s largest plastics maker. Together, they plan to sell a total of 1.5 percent of Formosa Petrochemical’s shares by the end of this year, reducing their shareholding in the company to about 75 percent.
LCY stock stabilizing: dealers
Shares of LCY Chemical Corp (李長榮化學) showed signs of stabilizing yesterday after plunging for seven straight sessions because of its potential liability for the gas pipeline explosions in Greater Kaohsiung on July 31 and Aug. 1.
The stock fell 0.66 percent to close at NT$15.05 in Taipei trading. Before yesterday, it had fallen by the maximum daily limit of 7 percent for seven consecutive sessions, driving the stock’s value down almost 40 percent since the blasts.
The stock is likely to consolidate until the chemical company’s legal and financial responsibilities from the blasts become clearer, dealers said.
Ministry picks TAITRA head
The Ministry of Economic Affairs on Monday appointed Francis Liang (梁國新), an adviser to the Cabinet, to serve as chairman of the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA), replacing Wang Chih-kang (王志剛), who has led the trade promotion body for the past six years.
The appointment of the 63-year-old Liang, a former deputy minister of economic affairs, will be discussed at TAITRA’s next board meeting, the ministry said in a statement.
Wang, 72, “has completed his mission,” the statement said, praising him for lifting the image of Taiwanese products.
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Chizuko Kimura has become the first female sushi chef in the world to win a Michelin star, fulfilling a promise she made to her dying husband to continue his legacy. The 54-year-old Japanese chef regained the Michelin star her late husband, Shunei Kimura, won three years ago for their Sushi Shunei restaurant in Paris. For Shunei Kimura, the star was a dream come true. However, the joy was short-lived. He died from cancer just three months later in June 2022. He was 65. The following year, the restaurant in the heart of Montmartre lost its star rating. Chizuko Kimura insisted that the new star is still down
While China’s leaders use their economic and political might to fight US President Donald Trump’s trade war “to the end,” its army of social media soldiers are embarking on a more humorous campaign online. Trump’s tariff blitz has seen Washington and Beijing impose eye-watering duties on imports from the other, fanning a standoff between the economic superpowers that has sparked global recession fears and sent markets into a tailspin. Trump says his policy is a response to years of being “ripped off” by other countries and aims to bring manufacturing to the US, forcing companies to employ US workers. However, China’s online warriors
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