BANKING
Mortgage rates remain low
The home mortgage rates of five major state-run banks last month remained at 1.359 percent, the second-lowest level on record, for the fourth consecutive month due to fierce competition among banks, while new home loans fell to NT$55.346 billion (US$1.91 billion), according to data released yesterday by the central bank. The average interest rate for new loans offered by Bank of Taiwan (臺灣銀行), First Commercial Bank (第一銀行), Hua Nan Commercial Bank (華南銀行), Land Bank of Taiwan (土地銀行) and Taiwan Cooperative Bank (合作金庫銀行) last month fell to 1.237 percent, down from 1.272 percent in August, the central bank said.
ELECTRONICS
Tatung shares rise 10%
Tatung Co (大同) shares yesterday rose by 10 percent, the maximum daily limit, to NT$21.35 after the company held an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting the previous day to elect a new board of directors. The Taiwan Stock Exchange announced that it would resume normal trading of the company’s shares from today. On Wednesday, activist investors led by Shanyuan Group (三圓建設) chairman Wang Kuang-hsiang (王光祥) won seven seats on Tatung’s nine-member board, ending the founding Lin (林) family’s 102-year control of the company.
STEELMAKERS
Feng Hsin reports Q3 profit
Feng Hsin Steel Co (豐興鋼鐵) yesterday reported third-quarter net profit increased 19 percent quarterly and 111 percent annually to NT$764 million, or earnings per share (EPS) of NT$1.31, the highest this year. Gross margin also improved to 16 percent last quarter, up from 14 percent in the previous quarter and 9 percent a year earlier, the company said. The Taichung-based company said that it is positive on steel demand for this quarter on the back of government infrastructure programs and the return of overseas Taiwanese businesses. In the first three quarters, Feng Hsin reported cumulative EPS of NT$3.29, compared with NT$2.55 a year earlier.
ELECTRONICS
Hon Hai sells Alibaba shares
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) subsidiary Foxconn Ventures Holding Co (富士康創投控股) has sold off its remaining shares in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (阿里巴巴) to book US$130.08 million in investment gains, Hon Hai said yesterday. Foxconn Ventures sold 630,000 American depositary receipts of Alibaba at US$310.68 each, for a total transaction value of US$195.73 million, Hon Hai said in a regulatory filing. About US$68 million would be transferred into unappropriated retained earnings for last year, as required by International Financial Reporting Standard 9 guidelines, while US$62.11 million would be recognized as a valuation gain this year, it said.
AUTOMAKERS
Pan German plans showroom
Pan German Universal Motors Ltd’s (汎德永業汽車) board of directors has approved plans to build a four-floor multifunction showroom for Porsche vehicles in Taichung, and to expand its vehicle repair and maintenance services in the region, it said yesterday. The NT$886 million project is to open in the third quarter of 2022, the company said. The new investment reflects its optimism about Porsche’s sales prospects, as well as the potential for imported vehicles in Taichung, said Pan German, which distributes BMW, Porsche and Mini vehicles in Taiwan.
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday said that its research institute has launched its first advanced artificial intelligence (AI) large language model (LLM) using traditional Chinese, with technology assistance from Nvidia Corp. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), said the LLM, FoxBrain, is expected to improve its data analysis capabilities for smart manufacturing, and electric vehicle and smart city development. An LLM is a type of AI trained on vast amounts of text data and uses deep learning techniques, particularly neural networks, to process and generate language. They are essential for building and improving AI-powered servers. Nvidia provided assistance
DOMESTIC SUPPLY: The probe comes as Donald Trump has called for the repeal of the US$52.7 billion CHIPS and Science Act, which the US Congress passed in 2022 The Office of the US Trade Representative is to hold a hearing tomorrow into older Chinese-made “legacy” semiconductors that could heap more US tariffs on chips from China that power everyday goods from cars to washing machines to telecoms equipment. The probe, which began during former US president Joe Biden’s tenure in December last year, aims to protect US and other semiconductor producers from China’s massive state-driven buildup of domestic chip supply. A 50 percent US tariff on Chinese semiconductors began on Jan. 1. Legacy chips use older manufacturing processes introduced more than a decade ago and are often far simpler than
STILL HOPEFUL: Delayed payment of NT$5.35 billion from an Indian server client sent its earnings plunging last year, but the firm expects a gradual pickup ahead Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), the world’s No. 5 PC vendor, yesterday reported an 87 percent slump in net profit for last year, dragged by a massive overdue payment from an Indian cloud service provider. The Indian customer has delayed payment totaling NT$5.35 billion (US$162.7 million), Asustek chief financial officer Nick Wu (吳長榮) told an online earnings conference. Asustek shipped servers to India between April and June last year. The customer told Asustek that it is launching multiple fundraising projects and expected to repay the debt in the short term, Wu said. The Indian customer accounted for less than 10 percent to Asustek’s
Gasoline and diesel prices this week are to decrease NT$0.5 and NT$1 per liter respectively as international crude prices continued to fall last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. Effective today, gasoline prices at CPC and Formosa stations are to decrease to NT$29.2, NT$30.7 and NT$32.7 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, while premium diesel is to cost NT$27.9 per liter at CPC stations and NT$27.7 at Formosa pumps, the companies said in separate statements. Global crude oil prices dropped last week after the eight OPEC+ members said they would
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