Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THSRC, 台灣高鐵) chairwoman Nita Ing (殷琪) stepped down from her post yesterday and an ad hoc board meeting elected chief executive Ou Chin-der (歐晉德) to replace her.
Ing, 54, who founded THSRC in July 1998 after winning the nation’s first build-operate-transfer contract to construct the north-south high speed railway two years earlier, said she hoped her resignation could help reverse the company’s finances.
“My career means nothing if more government participation can help the company run smoothly and profitably,” Ing said through THSRC spokesman Ted Chia (賈先德).
PHOTO: NICKY LOH, REUTERS
Chia said Ing announced her decision to step down at the beginning of the board meeting and the board named Ou to the chairmanship under his capacity as the legal representative of the state-run China Aviation Development Foundation (航發會).
The reshuffle, which took effect immediately, ushers in a new era for THSRC, one in which the government will assume a dominant role in deciding the board lineup and management.
The government has a nearly 40 percent stake in the company. THSRC has accumulated more than NT$450 billion (US$13.8 billion) in debts and is seeking a syndicated loan worth NT$390 billion.
Neither Ing nor Ou showed up at the unscheduled press conference after the board meeting. Chia said Ing would remain a board member representing Continental Engineering Corp (大陸工程), one of THSRC’s five founding shareholders, while Ou would serve as both THSRC chairman and CEO.
Last night, however, the company said in a stock exchange filing that Ing would also step down from the board and Continental Engineering would nominate a successor soon.
Chia said the company would call an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting on Nov. 10 to elect a new board of directors and supervisors.
He declined to comment on reports that Ing resigned to ensure government support for the bank loan.
“The former chairperson made no mention of such pressure,” Chia said. “She did extend gratitude to all THSRC employees for helping realize the high speed rail project.”
Ou, 65, a civil engineer by training, will soon brief the media on how he plans to improve the company’s finances and operations, Chia said.
Ou joined the public service sector in the late 1980s and has worked for the national expressway engineering bureau, the public construction commission and the central government. In 1998, he was tapped by then-Taipei mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to serve as deputy mayor. He retained his friendly ties to Ma and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) after joining THSRC in 1996 at Ing’s invitation.
Ou has avoided reporters since news broke over the weekend that Ing would be stepping down. Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) said on Sunday that Ing planned to resign.
EXPECTATIONS: The firm, which is on track to outpace global foundry industry revenue growth, said it expects constrained advanced process capacity amid stronger AI demand Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday increased its projected revenue growth for this year to above 25 percent, as stronger-than-expected demand for premium smartphones and artificial intelligence (AI) devices are to drive greater utilization of cutting-edge 3-nanometer and 5-nanometer chips. In April TSMC estimated 21 to 24 percent annual growth. The firm’s revenue growth is on track to greatly outpace the global foundry industry, which is expected to rise about 10 percent this year. “Over the past three months, we have observed stronger AI and high-end smartphone demand from our customers, which is to boost the overall capacity utilization for our leading-edge
INVESTMENT: The company’s planned complex in Texas would be the first 12-inch silicon wafer fab built in the US in more than 20 years, a GlobalWafers official said GlobalWafers Co (環球晶圓), the world’s No. 3 silicon wafer supplier, yesterday said it secured up to US$400 million in direct funding from the US Department of Commerce under the CHIPS and Science Act for the construction of two new advanced fabs in the US. Its subsidiaries GlobalWafers America and MEMC LLC are to build a 12-inch silicon wafer fab in Sherman, Texas, and another one in Missouri to produce silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafers used to make leading-edge chips. “With the support of the [US President Joe] Biden Administration, we are honored to be bringing to American shores the world’s most cutting-edge 12-inch semiconductor
Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (力積電) yesterday said that net losses ballooned to NT$1.96 billion (US$60.1 million) in the second quarter, as heavy manufacturing costs from a new fab outweighed the improvement in customer demand and factory utilization. That compared with losses of NT$439 million in the first quarter. The company posted a net profit of NT$617 million a year earlier. Gross margin plummeted to 5.3 percent last quarter, from 15.4 percent in the previous quarter and 16.8 percent in the same period last year. It was the weakest since the fourth quarter of last year. The chipmaker blamed heavy depreciation and higher manufacturing
Nikon Corp is fielding strong demand for its legacy chipmaking machines in China, which is mobilizing resources to build its own semiconductor supply chain. Inquiries for the Japanese precision maker’s lithography tools have surged in China, Nikon president Muneaki Tokunari said. The company is set to revamp a lithography machine geared for decades-old manufacturing processes. Its NSR-2205iL1, launching this summer, would serve the market for mature chip technology and Nikon expects to sell more than 10 units of the machine annually, said Tokunari, who is also chief operating officer and chief financial officer. New companies are sprouting up in China to make