Formosa Plastics Group (FPG, 台塑集團), the nation’s largest industrial conglomerate, yesterday said net profits of its four main companies grew 46.8 percent last year from the previous year, on the back of robust demand for petrochemical products.
The group’s four major units — Formosa Petrochemical Corp (FPCC, 台塑石化), Formosa Plastics Corp (台灣塑膠), Formosa Chemicals and Fibre Corp (台灣化學纖維) and Nan Ya Plastics Corp (南亞塑膠) — last year saw their combined net income reach NT$207.7 billion (US$6.5 billion), with total sales dropping 8.9 percent to NT$1.32 trillion from the previous year.
FPCC, the nation’s only listed oil refiner, posted the highest earnings growth among the four major units.
The oil refiner reported a 60.1 percent year-on-year rise in net profits of NT$75.7 billion, while sales dropped 13.2 percent annually to NT$546.1 billion.
Company officials attributed the performance to higher utilization rates and favorable product mixes, saying that falling international oil prices did not hurt the group’s annual profitability.
International crude oil prices last year slid by US$9.60 per barrel from the previous year, dragging down FPCC’s product prices by an average of US$12.30 per barrel, FPCC president Tsao Minh (曹明) said at a joint earnings conference in Taipei yesterday.
Commenting on its sales outlook for this year, Formosa Plastics chairman Jason Lin (林健男) said that he expects sales momentum to pick up after the Lunar New Year holiday lull, due to improving utilization rates.
Formosa Plastics, the group’s flagship company, is targeting an average utilization rate of 90 percent for this year, compared with last year’s 87 percent, Lin told reporters.
“The pace of recovery in the global economy remains stable and we hope to expand into the Indian and African market’s this year,” he added.
Nan Ya Plastics chairman Wu Chia-chau (吳嘉昭) also gave a positive sales outlook for this year, saying that soaring demand for copper foil would benefit the company’s revenue in the near term.
Growing demand for electric vehicles will continue to boost demand for copper foil, as the material is a crucial component for manufacturers of electric cars, Wu said.
“Nan Ya’s net profit [for last year] was mainly supported by electric material-related business,” he added.
The other three units also reported an increase in aggregate net profits last year.
Formosa Plastics, the nation’s largest producer of polyvinyl chloride, reported a 27.1 percent annual increase in net income last year to NT$39.3 billion while sales declined 5.9 percent annually to NT$180.2 billion.
Formosa Chemicals, which produces aromatics and styrenics, reported a net profit of NT$43.9 billion, representing a 59.1 percent year-on-year increase, while aggregate sales declined 3.1 percent to NT$319.2 billion.
Nan Ya Plastics, the nation’s largest plastics maker, saw its net profits reach NT$48.8 billion last year, up 36.6 percent from a year earlier, with sales dropping 8.2 percent to NT$275.3 billion.
FPG said it would give its about 30,000 employees bonuses equal to six times their monthly salary this year, as the four major companies reported earnings of NT$7.84 billion on average last year.
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday said that its research institute has launched its first advanced artificial intelligence (AI) large language model (LLM) using traditional Chinese, with technology assistance from Nvidia Corp. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), said the LLM, FoxBrain, is expected to improve its data analysis capabilities for smart manufacturing, and electric vehicle and smart city development. An LLM is a type of AI trained on vast amounts of text data and uses deep learning techniques, particularly neural networks, to process and generate language. They are essential for building and improving AI-powered servers. Nvidia provided assistance
DOMESTIC SUPPLY: The probe comes as Donald Trump has called for the repeal of the US$52.7 billion CHIPS and Science Act, which the US Congress passed in 2022 The Office of the US Trade Representative is to hold a hearing tomorrow into older Chinese-made “legacy” semiconductors that could heap more US tariffs on chips from China that power everyday goods from cars to washing machines to telecoms equipment. The probe, which began during former US president Joe Biden’s tenure in December last year, aims to protect US and other semiconductor producers from China’s massive state-driven buildup of domestic chip supply. A 50 percent US tariff on Chinese semiconductors began on Jan. 1. Legacy chips use older manufacturing processes introduced more than a decade ago and are often far simpler than
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