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.
MULTIFACETED: A task force has analyzed possible scenarios and created responses to assist domestic industries in dealing with US tariffs, the economics minister said The Executive Yuan is tomorrow to announce countermeasures to US President Donald Trump’s planned reciprocal tariffs, although the details of the plan would not be made public until Monday next week, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. The Cabinet established an economic and trade task force in November last year to deal with US trade and tariff related issues, Kuo told reporters outside the legislature in Taipei. The task force has been analyzing and evaluating all kinds of scenarios to identify suitable responses and determine how best to assist domestic industries in managing the effects of Trump’s tariffs, he
TIGHT-LIPPED: UMC said it had no merger plans at the moment, after Nikkei Asia reported that the firm and GlobalFoundries were considering restarting merger talks United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 4 contract chipmaker, yesterday launched a new US$5 billion 12-inch chip factory in Singapore as part of its latest effort to diversify its manufacturing footprint amid growing geopolitical risks. The new factory, adjacent to UMC’s existing Singapore fab in the Pasir Res Wafer Fab Park, is scheduled to enter volume production next year, utilizing mature 22-nanometer and 28-nanometer process technologies, UMC said in a statement. The company plans to invest US$5 billion during the first phase of the new fab, which would have an installed capacity of 30,000 12-inch wafers per month, it said. The
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
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