ENERGY
Solar merger approved
The Fair Trade Commission yesterday approved Neo Solar Energy Corp’s (新日光) merger with local solar cell makers Gintech Energy Corp (昱晶) and Solartech Energy Corp (昇陽光電), saying the deal would not harm market competition. The three-in-one merger, which earlier received approval from competition watchdogs in China and Germany, would help Neo Solar slightly increase its market share without hindering already-intensive competition, the commission said. There is also no major concern about potential price fixing, as solar prices are largely regulated worldwide, it said. About 90 percent of solar cells made by local firms are exported abroad, it added.
ENTERTAINMENT
OMG probed over patents
Online game maker MacroWell OMG Digital Entertainment Co (OMG, 歐買尬) yesterday confirmed that investigators searched the company’s offices earlier in the day over patent infringement allegations. The company said it would fully cooperate and that it would not affect its business.
RESTAURANTS
Hi-Lai approves dividend
Hi-Lai Foods Co Ltd (漢來美食) yesterday said its board has approved a proposal to distribute a cash dividend of NT$6.6 per share and a stock dividend of 3 percent this year, after reporting earnings per share of NT$7.47 for last year, representing a payout ratio of 92.37 percent. First-quarter revenue rose 7.56 percent from a year earlier to NT$979 million (US$33.3 million), a record high.
ELECTRONICS
Elan to slash capitalization
Elan Microelectronics Corp (義隆電子), which supplies touchpad controller and fingerprint sensors, on Tuesday announced that its board has agreed to cut the company’s capitalization by 30 percent to adjust its capital structure and return NT$3 in cash per share to shareholders. With a proposed cash dividend of NT$2.58 per common share, the company plans to distribute a total of NT$5.58 per share, to be approved at an annual shareholders’ meeting on June 11. The capital reduction plan would see the company’s capitalization drop to NT$3.04 billion from NT$4.34 billion.
ELECTRONICS
Machvision sees momentum
Machvision Inc (牧德), a supplier of printed circuit board (PCB) inspection equipment, on Tuesday said it is optimistic about its performance this year, as growth momentum would gain support from new products related to semiconductor applications. Chairman Collin Wang (汪光夏) told a Taipei Exchange-organized conference that the firm’s sales mix by product in the first quarter included flexible PCB inspection equipment (39 percent), automated optical inspection equipment for rigid PCBs (26 percent) and integrated circuit inspection equipment (17 percent). Machvision’s first-quarter sales grew 144.6 percent year-on-year and 8.2 percent quarter-on-quarter to NT$565 million.
BANKING
Yuan deposits slump 0.06%
Yuan deposits held by domestic banks, including negotiable certificates of deposit, edged down 0.06 percent to 321.69 billion yuan (US$51.2 billion) at the end of last month, the central bank said on Tuesday. Yuan deposits held by banks’ domestic units totaled 291.63 billion yuan, a monthly decrease of 0.16 percent, the central bank said, adding that holdings by banks’ offshore units increased 0.92 percent to 30.06 billion yuan.
SEMICONDUCTORS: The firm has already completed one fab, which is to begin mass producing 2-nanomater chips next year, while two others are under construction Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, plans to begin construction of its fourth and fifth wafer fabs in Kaohsiung next year, targeting the development of high-end processes. The two facilities — P4 and P5 — are part of TSMC’s production expansion program, which aims to build five fabs in Kaohsiung. TSMC facility division vice president Arthur Chuang (莊子壽) on Thursday said that the five facilities are expected to create 8,000 jobs. To respond to the fast-changing global semiconductor industry and escalating international competition, TSMC said it has to keep growing by expanding its production footprints. The P4 and P5
DOWNFALL: The Singapore-based oil magnate Lim Oon Kuin was accused of hiding US$800 million in losses and leaving 20 banks with substantial liabilities Former tycoon Lim Oon Kuin (林恩強) has been declared bankrupt in Singapore, following the collapse of his oil trading empire. The name of the founder of Hin Leong Trading Pte Ltd (興隆貿易) and his children Lim Huey Ching (林慧清) and Lim Chee Meng (林志朋) were listed as having been issued a bankruptcy order on Dec. 19, the government gazette showed. The younger Lims were directors at the company. Leow Quek Shiong and Seah Roh Lin of BDO Advisory Pte Ltd are the trustees, according to the gazette. At its peak, Hin Leong traded a range of oil products, made lubricants and operated loading
The growing popularity of Chinese sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks has shaken up Mexico’s luxury car market, hitting sales of traditionally dominant brands such as Mercedes-Benz and BMW. Mexicans are increasingly switching from traditionally dominant sedans to Chinese vehicles due to a combination of comfort, technology and price, industry experts say. It is no small feat in a country home to factories of foreign brands such as Audi and BMW, and where until a few years ago imported Chinese cars were stigmatized, as in other parts of the world. The high-end segment of the market registered a sales drop
Citigroup Inc and Bank of America Corp said they are leaving a global climate-banking group, becoming the latest Wall Street lenders to exit the coalition in the past month. In a statement, Citigroup said while it remains committed to achieving net zero emissions, it is exiting the Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA). Bank of America said separately on Tuesday that it is also leaving NZBA, adding that it would continue to work with clients on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The banks’ departure from NZBA follows Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Wells Fargo & Co. The largest US financial institutions are under increasing pressure
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