CHEMICALS
Swancor reports a net loss
Materials manufacturer and wind farm developer Swancor Holding Co Ltd (上緯) yesterday reported a net loss of NT$6 million (US$201,626) for last month, down 109 percent from a year earlier, with net losses per share of NT$0.07. However, revenue rose 32 percent year-on-year to NT$487 million, the company said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange. In the first quarter, net losses expanded to NT$42 million, or net losses per share of NT$0.47, while total revenue rose 22.63 percent to NT$1.15 billion, the filing showed. The market regulator requested that Swancor disclose its latest financial figures amid stock price fluctuations and after it closed down by the daily limit at NT$136 yesterday.
SEMICONDUCTORS
WPG net income rises 2.4%
Semiconductor component distributor WPG Holdings Co (大聯大) yesterday reported that net income last quarter improved 2.4 percent quarterly to NT$1.89 billion, with earnings per share of NT$1.04. First-quarter sales rose 3.62 percent annually to NT$123.41 billion, the company said, citing growing shipments of computer, consumer electronics, communications, cloud services and automotive-related components. The company also unveiled its guidance for this quarter, forecasting that sales would reach between NT$127 billion and NT$140 billion, while operating margin would be between 1.85 and 1.98 percent, compared with 1.95 percent last quarter.
GAMING
Gamania gross margin rises
Online game publisher Gamania Digital Entertainment Co (遊戲橘子) yesterday said rising sales and an improving product mix helped increased its gross margin 7 percentage points from a year earlier to 25 percent for the first quarter. Net profit for the period surged 664 percent to NT$408 million, with earnings per share of NT$2.41, the company said. First-quarter revenue rose 119 percent to NT$4.86 billion, which the firm attributed to the growing popularity of its biggest online game, Lineage M. Gamania said contribution from Lineage M and game points distribution subsidiary Gash Co Ltd (樂點) would be major growth drivers for this quarter.
MANUFACTURING
Ichia revenue falls 6 percent
Handset keypad maker Ichia Technologies Inc (毅嘉科技) yesterday posted revenue of NT$580 million for last month, down 6 percent from March, due to a shortage of raw materials. On an annual basis, revenue rose 12 percent, it said. Last month’s revenue included about NT$457 million in sales of flexible printed circuit integrated components and about NT$125 million from mechanical integrated components, Ichia said in a filing with the stock exchange. Cumulative revenue for the first four months of the year expanded 9 percent year-on-year to NT$2.17 billion, it said.
CHIPMAKERS
TSMC fab starts operations
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) 12-inch fab in Nanjing, China, has officially started mass production and is ready for shipments of chips using its 16-nanometer process in the near term, the Chinese-language Economic Daily News reported, citing industry sources. The world’s largest contract chipmaker held a ground-breaking ceremony for the plant on July 7, 2016. The Nanjing facility’s first shipment was delivered to Beijing-based Bitmain Technologies Ltd (比特大陸), the world’s largest bitcoin mining organization, the newspaper said.
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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