EQUITIES
TAIEX rallies to day’s high
Local shares yesterday staged a conspicuous rebound to finish at the session’s high, led by electronics and financial shares. The TAIEX closed up 182.63 points, or 1.71 percent, at 10,836.91, recovering the five-day moving average of 10,744 and the yearly moving average of 10,716, on turnover of NT$139.691 billion (US$4.58 billion). Although fears of a trade war between the US and China have not fully dispersed, analysts said local shares rallied in reflection of the lowered tension as long as the US refrains from triggering new unease. The stock market is expected to stay stable and gradually climb due to relatively thin trade at a time when foreign institutional investors have started to walk away from the trading floor with the start of the summer break.
BANKING
TBB forecasts improvement
State-run Taiwan Business Bank (TBB, 台灣企銀) expects performance to improve this quarter and continue growing in the next two quarters, chairman James Shih (施建安) told an annual general meeting yesterday, adding that he expects the company’s stock price to soon rise above the face value of NT$10 per share with book value of NT$13.28 per share. TBB shares yesterday closed at NT$9.41 in Taipei trading. The company reported pretax profit of NT$0.49 per share in the first five months of this year. Last year, net profit totaled NT$5.04 billion, or NT$0.82 per share.
BANKING
OBU assets total US$203bn
The 60 offshore banking units (OBUs) of financial institutions operating in Taiwan had assets totaling US$203.156 billion as of the end of last month, down US$764 million, or 0.4 percent, from April, the central bank said in a statement yesterday. The OBUs of 37 local banks held US$180.86 billion in assets, while foreign banks’ 23 OBUs held US$22.296 billion, it said. At the end of last month, the primary uses of all OBUs’ funds were discounts and loans, amounting to US$82.142 billion, or 40.4 percent of total assets, it added.
SERVICES
Synnex to acquire Convergys
New York Stock Exchange-listed Synnex Corp, in which Taiwan’s Synnex Technology International Corp (聯強國際) has an interest, yesterday announced that it would acquire Convergys Corp and then integrate it with Concentrix, a wholly owned subsidiary and top global provider of customer relationship management and business process outsourcing services. The Fremont, California-based firm said it has reached a definitive agreement with Convergys, but did not disclose financial terms. The transaction is expected to close by the end of this calendar year, subject to the approval of shareholders of both companies, regulatory requirements and customary closing conditions, the company said in a statement.
ELECTRONICS
CCIS warns of overreliance
Six of Taiwan’s top 10 corporations by net revenue are electronics companies that are part of Apple Inc’s supply chain, resulting in an overreliance on the US company, a China Credit Information Service (CCIS, 中華徵信所) report said on Thursday. Total revenue for the six enterprises, including Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), increased from NT$34.7542 trillion in 2016 to a record high of NT$36.1433 trillion last year, the report said.
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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