RAC Electric Vehicles Inc (華德動能), which makes electric buses and trucks, yesterday said that its domestic shipments of electric buses would more than double next year on the back of a government policy to increase the adoption of electric vehicles.
The government aims to raise the nation’s number of electric buses to 10,000 units over the next 10 years, starting with 430 units next year, RAC said.
RAC aims to acquire one-fourth of the market next year by selling about 108 buses, up from 53 buses this year, chairman and chief executive Alex Tsai (蔡易忠) told investors yesterday.
This year, RAC holds 90 percent of the market, Tsai said, adding that the declining market share expected next year is due to capacity constraints.
RAC can build between 80 and 90 buses a year, and plans to expand capacity in the second or third quarter next year to produce between 400 and 500 units per year, Tsai said.
In the first half of this year, RAC sold 31 buses and posted revenue of NT$228.05 million (US$7.28 million), according to a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
RAC swung into the black in the first six months of this year with profit of NT$13.02 million, or NT$0.65 per share, the filing said.
Tsai said the break-even point for the company is selling 60 buses a year.
Last year, RAC reported revenue of NT$57.83 million against losses of NT$60.53 million, or NT$4.73 per share, the filing said.
There are 35 large electric buses and 45 medium-sized electric buses in use in Taiwan, with RAC accounting for 58 percent of the market, Tsai said, adding that nine commuter buses for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s top contract chipmaker, in the Hsinchu Science Park (新竹科學園區) were manufactured by the firm.
The company also plans to sell buses overseas soon, Tsai said.
RAC sells large buses for about NT$5.2 million each and medium-sized coaches for NT$3.15 million, it said, adding that 60 percent of the units are manufactured locally.
Recharging for between five and seven hours, large buses can cover up to 350km, while medium-sized buses average about 280km, Tsai said.
The company is set to debut on the Emerging Stock Market on Tuesday, with an initial public offering price of NT$60.
The Emerging Stock Market is a preparatory board for the nation’s two main bourses: the Taiwan Stock Exchange and the GRETAI Securities Market. Trading on the smaller board is restricted to securities firms, by means of negotiation, making initial public offerings not open to public subscription.
RAC said it plans to apply to shift its listing to the main board in the second quarter of 2016.
Tsai owns 28.9 percent of the company’s shares, while autoparts maker Mobiletron Electronics Co (車王電子) owns 14.9 percent, the company said.
TRADE WAR: Tariffs should also apply to any goods that pass through the new Beijing-funded port in Chancay, Peru, an adviser to US president-elect Donald Trump said A veteran adviser to US president-elect Donald Trump is proposing that the 60 percent tariffs that Trump vowed to impose on Chinese goods also apply to goods from any country that pass through a new port that Beijing has built in Peru. The duties should apply to goods from China or countries in South America that pass through the new deep-water port Chancay, a town 60km north of Lima, said Mauricio Claver-Carone, an adviser to the Trump transition team who served as senior director for the western hemisphere on the White House National Security Council in his first administration. “Any product going
TECH SECURITY: The deal assures that ‘some of the most sought-after technology on the planet’ returns to the US, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said The administration of US President Joe Biden finalized its CHIPS Act incentive awards for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), marking a major milestone for a program meant to bring semiconductor production back to US soil. TSMC would get US$6.6 billion in grants as part of the contract, the US Department of Commerce said in a statement yesterday. Though the amount was disclosed earlier this year as part of a preliminary agreement, the deal is now legally binding — making it the first major CHIPS Act award to reach this stage. The chipmaker, which is also taking up to US$5 billion
High above the sparkling surface of the Athens coastline, the cranes for building the 50-floor luxury tower centerpiece of Greece’s future “smart city” look out over the Saronic Gulf. At their feet, construction machinery stirs up dust. Its backers say the 8 billion euro (US$8.43 billion) project financed by private funds is a symbol of Greece’s renaissance after the years of financial stagnation that saw investors flee the country. However, critics see it more as a future “ghetto for the rich.” It is hard to imagine that 10km from the Acropolis, a new city “three times the size of Monaco”
STRUGGLING BUSINESS: South Korea’s biggest company and semiconductor manufacturer’s buyback fuels concerns that it could be missing out on the AI boom Samsung Electronics Co plans to buy back about 10 trillion won (US$7.2 billion) of its own stock over the next year, putting in motion one of the larger shareholder return programs in its history. South Korea’s biggest company would repurchase the stock in stages over the coming 12 months, it said in a regulatory filing on Friday. As a first step, it would buy back about 3 trillion won of paper starting today up until February next year, all of which it would cancel. The board would deliberate on how best to effect the remaining 7 trillion won of buybacks. The move
RSS