EQUITIES
TAIEX closes slightly lower
The TAIEX yesterday closed slightly lower as government-led funds were believed to have intervened to support the local main board amid ongoing global volatility. Despite the aid, contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) fell below NT$400 for the first time in more than two years as the local tech sector remained affected by the US Federal Reserve’s aggressive rate hike cycle and Washington’s new ban on certain chip exports to China. The TAIEX was down 24.79 points, or 0.19 percent, at 13,081.24, as the electronics sector was up by 0.29 percent and the semiconductor sub-index fell by 0.82 percent. Turnover on the main board totaled NT$181.556 billion (US$5.7 billion), with foreign institutional investors selling a net NT$16.64 billion of shares, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
LOGISTICS
Dimerco to buy back shares
Freight forwarder Dimerco Express Corp (中菲行) yesterday said it plans to launch a share buyback program for the first time in the company’s history to protect shareholders’ interests. The company is to repurchase 3 million common shares for NT$317 million at the most, it said in a regulatory filing after its board of directors approved the proposal. Dimerco proposes to repurchase shares at NT$45.3 to NT$104.3 per share, the filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange showed. It is to buy back shares over the next two months, beginning tomorrow and ending on Dec. 13, it added. The company posted revenue of NT$3.08 billion last month, down 10.34 percent month-on-month and 19.8 percent year-on-year, due to falling demand. The company’s shares closed 2.73 percent lower at NT$60.50, down 62 percent from a high of NT$160 in June last year, exchange data showed.
ELECTRONICS
MediaTek posts record sales
Smartphone IC designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) on Tuesday recorded its second-highest monthly sales for last month, with analysts attributing the performance to phone launches by customers. The company posted NT$56.57 billion in consolidated sales, up 26.56 percent from a month earlier and 18.09 percent from a year earlier, trailing only March’s NT$59.18 billion. Consolidated sales totaled NT$142.16 billion in the third quarter, within the company’s forecast range of NT$141.7 billion to NT$154.2 billion. However, third-quarter revenues fell 8.71 percent compared with the second quarter due to some customers adjusting their inventories. In the first nine months, consolidated sales totaled NT$440.6 billion, up 20.79 percent from a year earlier, MediaTek said, adding that it expects full-year sales to grow 17 to 19 percent this year from last year, a downgrade from its previous estimate of a 20 percent annual increase due to inventory adjustments among its clients.
ELECTRONICS
Pixel 7 launches today
Google’s newest smartphones — the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro — and its first smart watch, the Pixel Watch, are to go on sale in Taiwan today, Google Taiwan vice president of hardware Elmer Peng (彭昱鈞) said last week. Peng said the addition of the Pixel Watch to the line of smartphones and Pixel Buds earphones has created a more comprehensive product portfolio. Prices for the 6.3-inch Pixel 7, 6.7-inch Pixel 7 Pro and Pixel Watch are to start from NT$18,990, NT$26,990 and NT$10,990 respectively, Google said.
SEMICONDUCTORS: The firm has already completed one fab, which is to begin mass producing 2-nanomater chips next year, while two others are under construction Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, plans to begin construction of its fourth and fifth wafer fabs in Kaohsiung next year, targeting the development of high-end processes. The two facilities — P4 and P5 — are part of TSMC’s production expansion program, which aims to build five fabs in Kaohsiung. TSMC facility division vice president Arthur Chuang (莊子壽) on Thursday said that the five facilities are expected to create 8,000 jobs. To respond to the fast-changing global semiconductor industry and escalating international competition, TSMC said it has to keep growing by expanding its production footprints. The P4 and P5
DOWNFALL: The Singapore-based oil magnate Lim Oon Kuin was accused of hiding US$800 million in losses and leaving 20 banks with substantial liabilities Former tycoon Lim Oon Kuin (林恩強) has been declared bankrupt in Singapore, following the collapse of his oil trading empire. The name of the founder of Hin Leong Trading Pte Ltd (興隆貿易) and his children Lim Huey Ching (林慧清) and Lim Chee Meng (林志朋) were listed as having been issued a bankruptcy order on Dec. 19, the government gazette showed. The younger Lims were directors at the company. Leow Quek Shiong and Seah Roh Lin of BDO Advisory Pte Ltd are the trustees, according to the gazette. At its peak, Hin Leong traded a range of oil products, made lubricants and operated loading
The growing popularity of Chinese sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks has shaken up Mexico’s luxury car market, hitting sales of traditionally dominant brands such as Mercedes-Benz and BMW. Mexicans are increasingly switching from traditionally dominant sedans to Chinese vehicles due to a combination of comfort, technology and price, industry experts say. It is no small feat in a country home to factories of foreign brands such as Audi and BMW, and where until a few years ago imported Chinese cars were stigmatized, as in other parts of the world. The high-end segment of the market registered a sales drop
Citigroup Inc and Bank of America Corp said they are leaving a global climate-banking group, becoming the latest Wall Street lenders to exit the coalition in the past month. In a statement, Citigroup said while it remains committed to achieving net zero emissions, it is exiting the Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA). Bank of America said separately on Tuesday that it is also leaving NZBA, adding that it would continue to work with clients on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The banks’ departure from NZBA follows Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Wells Fargo & Co. The largest US financial institutions are under increasing pressure
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