EQUITIES
Fears send TAIEX plunging
The TAIEX took a beating yesterday, tumbling almost 300 points, as market sentiment was roiled by fears of potential rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve and over military tensions between Russia and Ukraine. The bellwether electronics sector came under heavy downward pressure, falling 1.61 percent, with the semiconductor subindex down 1.75 percent, led by contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電). The TAIEX closed down 287.92 points, or 1.60 percent, at 17,701.12. Turnover totaled NT$269.410 billion (US$9.72 billion), with foreign institutional investors selling a net NT$47.35 billion of shares on the main board, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. TSMC lost 1.84 percent to close at NT$641, and its losses contributed about 100 points to the TAIEX’s decline.
SEMICONDUCTORS
Powerchip outlook upbeat
Contract chipmaker Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電) yesterday said it is optimistic about its operations this year. It expects annual revenue to increase 21.9 percent to more than NT$80 billion on the back of rising average selling prices, while net profit is forecast to grow 24.3 percent to more than NT$20 billion. Last year’s operating performance was in line with expectations, with revenue of NT$65.62 billion, gross margin of 42 percent and net profit of NT$16.09 billion, Powerchip chairman Frank Huang (黃崇仁) told an online investors’ conference. That translated into earnings per share of NT$4.92, Huang said. At present, 70 to 80 percent of the company’s memory and logic production capacity has been booked by customers, he said. Product prices would not rise as much as last year, with average selling prices likely to increase by 5 to 10 percent, Huang said.
MANUFACTURING
Wah Lee buys 13 plots
Wah Lee Industrial Corp (華立), a supplier of industrial materials and equipment, yesterday said it has purchased several plots of land in Tainan, as it plans to set up a southern logistics center there. The company said in a regulatory filing that it has acquired 13 plots for about NT$1.2 billion. Wah Lee said its board of directors had authorized the firm’s chairman to handle price negotiations, payment terms and the signing of contracts for the purchase. As the company cannot register farming and grazing land under its name, it has temporarily registered the land under Wah Lee chief executive officer Gary Chang’s (張尊賢) name, it said, adding that it has taken all necessary precautionary measures to protect the rights of the company.
SEMICONDUCTORS
Hon Hai to redraw prizes
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday said that some of its employees were not able to join prize draws during an annual online event on Sunday due to a system malfunction. To protect the rights and interests of the affected employees, the company would redraw prizes for them, with the original prize winners remaining unchanged, Hon Hai said in a statement. Local media reported yesterday that some of Hon Hai’s employees were excluded from the prize draws, which included vehicles and cash, due to problems importing the lottery list into the company’s lottery system. Hon Hai said that it provided employees who did not win any prize draws with a participation award of NT$16,888 each.
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Chizuko Kimura has become the first female sushi chef in the world to win a Michelin star, fulfilling a promise she made to her dying husband to continue his legacy. The 54-year-old Japanese chef regained the Michelin star her late husband, Shunei Kimura, won three years ago for their Sushi Shunei restaurant in Paris. For Shunei Kimura, the star was a dream come true. However, the joy was short-lived. He died from cancer just three months later in June 2022. He was 65. The following year, the restaurant in the heart of Montmartre lost its star rating. Chizuko Kimura insisted that the new star is still down
While China’s leaders use their economic and political might to fight US President Donald Trump’s trade war “to the end,” its army of social media soldiers are embarking on a more humorous campaign online. Trump’s tariff blitz has seen Washington and Beijing impose eye-watering duties on imports from the other, fanning a standoff between the economic superpowers that has sparked global recession fears and sent markets into a tailspin. Trump says his policy is a response to years of being “ripped off” by other countries and aims to bring manufacturing to the US, forcing companies to employ US workers. However, China’s online warriors
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