EQUITIES
Shih vows re-energization
The Taiwan Stock Exchange’s (TWSE) newly appointed chairman, Shih Jun-ji (施俊吉), yesterday said he would work to re-energize local capital markets and further enhance the average price-to-earnings ratio of stocks listed on the main bourse and the over-the-counter exchange. Shih made the remarks during a handover ceremony in Taipei, where he received the official seal from his predecessor, Lee Sush-der (李述德). Shih, formerly a minister without portfolio, said one of his goals is to raise the stock market’s average daily turnover to between NT$100 billion and NT$120 billion (US$3.1 billion and US$3.7 billion). The TWSE also aims to expand ties with its foreign peers, he said.
EQUITIES
TWSE signs memorandum
The Taiwan Stock Exchange has signed a memorandum of understanding with Bursa Malaysia Bhd that commits the two sides to cooperating more closely. It was the second memorandum inked by the TWSE and Bursa Malaysia to strengthen their strategic partnership. The first was signed in 1999 and covered trading information exchanges.
EQUITIES
TPEX to focus on small firms
Former Securities and Futures Bureau deputy director-general Chang Li-chen (張麗真) yesterday took over as acting chairman and president of the Taipei Exchange (TPEX), which is in charge of the nation’s over-the-counter bourse and serves bond trading in Taiwan. Taking over from her predecessor, Lee Chi-hsien (李啟賢), Chang said at a handover ceremony that the TPEX would make efforts to become the cradle of small and medium-sized enterprises, the key driving force of the local bonds market and the advocate of innovative industries. The exchange would also develop platforms for creative products, Chang added.
E-COMMERCE
Momo.com to open facility
Momo.com Inc (富邦媒), an online, TV and catalogue shopping subsidiary of Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大), is to open a new automated logistics center in Taoyuan in the second quarter of next year, the firm said in a statement yesterday. This is to be the company’s first wholly owned logistics center, Momo.com said, adding that it would help reduce delivery times and warehouse rental costs. The company said it plans to expand its operational scope by investing in two more logistics centers in central and southern Taiwan in the next few years. In the first five months of the year, cumulative sales totaled NT$11.44 billion, up by 9.2 percent from the same period last year, company data showed.
ELECTRONICS
Sampo reports rise in sales
Home appliance maker Sampo Corp (聲寶) yesterday said sales for last month would total about NT$1.1 billion, up from NT$1.08 billion in May, due to the summer peak season for the home appliances and consumer electronics industry. Second-quarter sales are likely to be higher than the first quarter’s NT$2.65 billion and could increase from a year ago, Sampo spokesman Peter Chiang (江全田) told an investors’ conference in Taipei. As Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) has acquired Japan’s Sharp Corp and is to be fully in charge of sales and marketing of Sharp products in Taiwan, Sampo plans to end its joint venture with the Japanese firm, Sharp Corp Taiwan (夏寶), if it gains shareholders’ approval in a meeting on Tuesday next week, Chiang 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
South Korea’s SK Hynix Inc, the world’s No. 2 memorychip maker, is to invest 103 trillion won (US$74.6 billion) through 2028 to strengthen its chips business, focusing on artificial intelligence (AI), its parent SK Group said yesterday. SK Group also said it plans to secure 80 trillion won by 2026 to invest in AI and semiconductors as well as fund shareholder returns, while streamlining its more than 175 subsidiaries. The sprawling conglomerate outlined the plans following a two-day strategy meeting, aiming to revive the group after SK Hynix, its main money maker, and the group’s electric vehicle battery arm suffered heavy losses. SK
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