CHIPMAKERS
UMC posts record revenue
United Microelectronics Co (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 3 contract chipmaker, yesterday reported record monthly revenue of NT$16.62 billion (US$584.66 million) for last month, up 14.06 percent from NT$14.57 billion a year earlier and 11.17 percent from NT$14.95 billion in February. In the first three months of this year, cumulative revenue grew 11.43 percent to NT$47.1 billion from NT$42.27 billion a year earlier, UMC said in a statement. Cumulative revenue grew 3.98 percent quarter-on-quarter, in line with the company’s forecast. Separately, Macronix International Co (旺宏電子), which supplies memory chips for Japanese gaming console maker Nintendo Co, yesterday reported that its revenue dropped 7.1 percent annually, but increased 19.8 percent monthly to NT$3.61 billion last month. The company said cumulative revenue in the first quarter was NT$9.63 billion, the best revenue for the first quarter on record.
ELECTRONICS
Yageo revenue doubles
Yageo Corp (國巨), the world’s third-largest supplier of passive components, yesterday said that its revenue more than doubled to NT$8.73 billion last month from NT$4.03 billion a year earlier and grew 24.6 percent from NT$7.01 billion in February. Yageo attributed the growth to an increase in the number of working days and healthy demand. Cumulative revenue in the first quarter soared 137 percent annually to NT$23.74 billion — the second-highest quarterly revenue in the company’s history, it said. Meanwhile, rival Walsin Technology Corp (華新科技) said that its revenue jumped 53.7 percent year-on-year and 25.7 percent month-on-month to NT$3.76 billion last month. Walsin said demand has increased due to a stay-at-home economy and cloud-computing devices. First-quarter revenue expanded 64.1 percent year-on-year to NT$10.46 billion from NT$6.37 billion.
MACHINERY
Parts makers beat forecasts
The performance of makers of industrial automation components beat market expectations last month, with linear-motion component suppliers, such as Hiwin Technologies Co (上銀科技), and pneumatic parts makers, such as Airtac International Group (亞德客), reporting record revenues. Hiwin yesterday posted revenue of NT$2.16 billion, up 15.79 percent month-on-month and 59.22 percent year-on-year, while Airtac’s revenue was NT$2.39 billion, up 69.34 percent month-on-month and 37.58 percent year-on-year, regulatory filings showed. In the first quarter, Hiwin’s revenue totaled NT$5.99 billion, up 65.8 percent from a year earlier and the highest for the January-to-March quarter, while Airtac’s revenue was NT$5.93 billion, up 87.89 percent and also a record.
PHARMACEUTICALS
EirGenix, Hong Wei ink pact
EirGenix Inc (台康生技) on Tuesday signed a letter of intent with Hong Wei Investment Co (鋐維股份) to sell 55 million new common shares via a private placement for NT$5.04 billion, the pharmaceuticals firm said in a statement. The deal would allow Hong Wei to secure an 18.56 percent stake in EirGenix and become the largest shareholder of the company, the statement said. EirGenix, a contract development and manufacturing organization and biosimilars maker, said that the deal is conducive to its long-term development as it would help enhance the company’s operating efficiency and bolster its competitiveness. The main shareholder of Hong Wei is Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) founder Terry Gou (郭台銘).
Handset camera lens maker Largan Precision Co (大立光) on Sunday reported a 6.71 percent year-on-year decline in revenue for the third quarter, despite revenue last month hitting the highest level in 11 months. Third-quarter revenue was NT$17.68 billion (US$581.2 million), compared with NT$18.95 billion a year earlier, the company said in a statement. The figure was in line with Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co’s (元大投顧) forecast of NT$17.9 billion, but missed the market consensus estimate of NT$18.97 billion. The third-quarter revenue was a 51.44 percent increase from NT$11.67 billion in the second quarter, as the quarter is usually the peak
Taiwan’s foreign exchange reserves hit a record high at the end of last month, surpassing the US$600 billion mark for the first time, the central bank said yesterday. Last month, the country’s foreign exchange reserves rose US$5.51 billion from a month earlier to reach US$602.94 billion due to an increase in returns from the central bank’s portfolio management, the movement of other foreign currencies in the portfolio against the US dollar and the bank’s efforts to smooth the volatility of the New Taiwan dollar. Department of Foreign Exchange Director-General Eugene Tsai (蔡炯民)said a rate cut cycle launched by the US Federal Reserve
The US government on Wednesday sanctioned more than two dozen companies in China, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, including offshoots of a US chip firm, accusing the businesses of providing illicit support to Iran’s military or proxies. The US Department of Commerce included two subsidiaries of US-based chip distributor Arrow Electronics Inc (艾睿電子) on its so-called entity list published on the federal register for facilitating purchases by Iran’s proxies of US tech. Arrow spokesman John Hourigan said that the subsidiaries have been operating in full compliance with US export control regulations and his company is discussing with the US Bureau of
Pegatron Corp (和碩), a key assembler of Apple Inc’s iPhones, on Thursday reported a 12.3 percent year-on-year decline in revenue for last quarter to NT$257.86 billion (US$8.44 billion), but it expects revenue to improve in the second half on traditional holiday demand. The fourth quarter is usually the peak season for its communications products, a company official said on condition of anonymity. As Apple released its new iPhone 17 series early last month, sales in the communications segment rose sequentially last month, the official said. Shipments to Apple have been stable and in line with earlier expectations, they said. Pegatron shipped 2.4 million notebook
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