The number of initial public offerings (IPO) this year might total 60, with the amount of capital raised likely to reach NT$24 billion (US$842.67 million), as the local bourse gains traction amid an improving global economy, Deloitte Taiwan said yesterday.
The projected number of IPOs would be a more than twofold improvement on last year’s decade low of 29, as the COVID-19 pandemic dampened corporate confidence and pushed back IPO activity, Deloitte Taiwan managing partner Kenny Hong (洪國田) said.
“The number of IPO deals last year could have reached 50 if there had been no virus outbreak and no US-China trade tensions,” Hong told a news conference in Taipei on the development and outlook of the local capital market.
Photo courtesy of Deloitte Taiwan
This year, 31 firms have filed applications, while last year’s 29 firms have raised NT$14.7 billion in funding, a 50 percent decline from 2019, Hong said.
However, this meant that individual firms raised NT$500 million to NT$800 million, better than the three-year average from 2016 to 2018, Hong said.
Monetary easing by major central banks worldwide is favorable for capital markets, including the TAIEX, which was ranked third globally in terms of dividend payouts, Deloitte Taiwan said.
An ongoing rally on the local bourse would support fund-raising activity by elevating price-to-earnings ratios for many firms, TAIEX data indicated.
Share prices in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, surged more than 60 percent last year, while United Microelectronics Corp (聯電), the world’s No. 4 contract chipmaker, more than doubled.
Tech dominated the local IPO market last year, but Pan German Universal Motors Ltd (汎德永業汽車), which distributes BMW, Porsche and Mini vehicles locally, finished first by raising NT$2.3 billion, accounting for 16 percent of the total capital raised, Deloitte Taiwan said.
Proximity sensor maker Sensortek Technology Corp (昇佳電子) emerged a close second with NT$2.14 billion, accounting for 15 percent, it added.
Deloitte Taiwan expects tech firms to be the main participants this year, as Taiwan is home to the world’s major contract electronics suppliers, Hong said, adding that several companies have already filed listing applications and are due to make a debut later this year.
Local companies assign more importance to their environmental, social and governance awareness and showings, in line with an evident global trend, as earning ability can no longer be the sole measure of a good company, Hong said.
US-China trade tensions would continue to shape the global economic landscape and all eyes are focused on how US president-elect Joe Biden would handle the dispute, Deloitte Taiwan chief executive officer Casey Lai (賴冠仲) said.
Nvidia Corp’s demand for advanced packaging from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) remains strong though the kind of technology it needs is changing, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said yesterday, after he was asked whether the company was cutting orders. Nvidia’s most advanced artificial intelligence (AI) chip, Blackwell, consists of multiple chips glued together using a complex chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) advanced packaging technology offered by TSMC, Nvidia’s main contract chipmaker. “As we move into Blackwell, we will use largely CoWoS-L. Of course, we’re still manufacturing Hopper, and Hopper will use CowoS-S. We will also transition the CoWoS-S capacity to CoWos-L,” Huang said
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) is expected to miss the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump on Monday, bucking a trend among high-profile US technology leaders. Huang is visiting East Asia this week, as he typically does around the time of the Lunar New Year, a person familiar with the situation said. He has never previously attended a US presidential inauguration, said the person, who asked not to be identified, because the plans have not been announced. That makes Nvidia an exception among the most valuable technology companies, most of which are sending cofounders or CEOs to the event. That includes
INDUSTRY LEADER: TSMC aims to continue outperforming the industry’s growth and makes 2025 another strong growth year, chairman and CEO C.C. Wei says Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), a major chip supplier to Nvidia Corp and Apple Inc, yesterday said it aims to grow revenue by about 25 percent this year, driven by robust demand for artificial intelligence (AI) chips. That means TSMC would continue to outpace the foundry industry’s 10 percent annual growth this year based on the chipmaker’s estimate. The chipmaker expects revenue from AI-related chips to double this year, extending a three-fold increase last year. The growth would quicken over the next five years at a compound annual growth rate of 45 percent, fueled by strong demand for the high-performance computing
TARIFF TRADE-OFF: Machinery exports to China dropped after Beijing ended its tariff reductions in June, while potential new tariffs fueled ‘front-loaded’ orders to the US The nation’s machinery exports to the US amounted to US$7.19 billion last year, surpassing the US$6.86 billion to China to become the largest export destination for the local machinery industry, the Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry (TAMI, 台灣機械公會) said in a report on Jan. 10. It came as some manufacturers brought forward or “front-loaded” US-bound shipments as required by customers ahead of potential tariffs imposed by the new US administration, the association said. During his campaign, US president-elect Donald Trump threatened tariffs of as high as 60 percent on Chinese goods and 10 percent to 20 percent on imports from other countries.
RSS