TECHNOLOGY
E Ink payout plan approved
Shareholders of E Ink Holdings Inc (元太科技), a leading e-paper display supplier, yesterday approved the company’s proposal to distribute a cash dividend of NT$3.2 per share, suggesting a payout ratio of 70.64 percent based on the company’s earnings per share of NT$4.53 last year, which were the highest in 10 years. E Ink reported revenue of NT$19.65 billion (US$659.62 million) for last year, the highest in nearly nine years, due to robust demand for e-paper displays, e-notes and electronic shelf labels. E Ink chief financial officer Lloyd Chen (陳樂群) told shareholders that the evolution of the contactless economy and digital transformation of retailing businesses have increased demand for the company’s products, prompting it to launch three new production lines for e-paper displays this year, as well as another production line next year. The company also pledged to use 100 percent renewable energy by 2030 and achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2040.
STEELMAKERS
CSC pretax profit drops
China Steel Corp (CSC, 中鋼), the nation’s only integrated steelmaker, yesterday reported that its pretax profit last month dropped 22 percent to NT$4.44 billion from a month earlier, as revenue decreased 4.24 percent year-on-year to NT$45.41 billion. On a yearly basis, China Steel’s pretax profit fell 41.76 percent, the company said. The monthly decline in pretax profit was mainly due to a decrease in sales volume, while a lack of income from its mining investment compared with April also led to a decline in profit, it said. From January to last month, the company reported a 9 percent decrease in cumulative pretax profit to NT$24.6 billion, down from NT$26.9 billion a year earlier. Consolidated revenue in the first five months of the year increased 17 percent to NT$204.1 billion, up from NT$174.45 billion a year earlier.
COMPUTERS
Adlink expects improvements
Industrial computer maker Adlink Technology Inc (凌華科技) yesterday said gross margin would improve in the second half of the year, thanks to price hikes and favorable foreign exchange rates. Its inventory level is also forecast to decline in the second half compared with the first half, the company told shareholders at its annual general meeting in Taipei. With component and raw material shortages expected to ease in the coming months, and production resuming at its plants in China, Adlink said its business outlook would improve in the third and fourth quarters, after a weak performance in the first two quarters. The company reported earnings per share of NT$0.55 last year, down 51.2 percent year-on-year. Shareholders approved the company’s plan to distribute a cash dividend of NT$0.3 per share.
INSURANCE
Firms lose on virus policies
Local insurance companies had as of Monday paid 314,900 COVID-19 insurance policyholders a total of NT$11.2 billion, three times the cumulative premium income of NT$3.56 billion from the sales of the policies, the Financial Supervisory Commission told a news conference on Tuesday. Compensation would likely surpass NT$15 billion at the end of this month, the commission said. Meanwhile, 3.76 million policies have been sold so far this year, the commission said. The number of claims grew by 70,000 to 80,000 per week amid rising local COVID-19 case numbers, the commission said.
Semiconductor business between Taiwan and the US is a “win-win” model for both sides given the high level of complementarity, the government said yesterday responding to tariff threats from US President Donald Trump. Home to the world’s largest contract chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), Taiwan is a key link in the global technology supply chain for companies such as Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp. Trump said on Monday he plans to impose tariffs on imported chips, pharmaceuticals and steel in an effort to get the producers to make them in the US. “Taiwan and the US semiconductor and other technology industries
SMALL AND EFFICIENT: The Chinese AI app’s initial success has spurred worries in the US that its tech giants’ massive AI spending needs re-evaluation, a market strategist said Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) start-up DeepSeek’s (深度求索) eponymous AI assistant rocketed to the top of Apple Inc’s iPhone download charts, stirring doubts in Silicon Valley about the strength of the US’ technological dominance. The app’s underlying AI model is widely seen as competitive with OpenAI and Meta Platforms Inc’s latest. Its claim that it cost much less to train and develop triggered share moves across Asia’s supply chain. Chinese tech firms linked to DeepSeek, such as Iflytek Co (科大訊飛), surged yesterday, while chipmaking tool makers like Advantest Corp slumped on the potential threat to demand for Nvidia Corp’s AI accelerators. US stock
The US Federal Reserve is expected to announce a pause in rate cuts on Wednesday, as policymakers look to continue tackling inflation under close and vocal scrutiny from US President Donald Trump. The Fed cut its key lending rate by a full percentage point in the final four months of last year and indicated it would move more cautiously going forward amid an uptick in inflation away from its long-term target of 2 percent. “I think they will do nothing, and I think they should do nothing,” Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis former president Jim Bullard said. “I think the
Cryptocurrencies gave a lukewarm reception to US President Donald Trump’s first policy moves on digital assets, notching small gains after he commissioned a report on regulation and a crypto reserve. Bitcoin has been broadly steady since Trump took office on Monday and was trading at about US$105,000 yesterday as some of the euphoria around a hoped-for revolution in cryptocurrency regulation ebbed. Smaller cryptocurrency ether has likewise had a fairly steady week, although was up 5 percent in the Asia day to US$3,420. Bitcoin had been one of the most spectacular “Trump trades” in financial markets, gaining 50 percent to break above US$100,000 and