Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, last year remained the most profitable company in Taiwan, Taipei-based credit information company CRIF (中華徵信所) said.
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), a major iPhone assembler also known as Foxconn (富士康), generated the most in sales in the country last year, CRIF said in its latest top-5,000 company report.
Last year, the top 5,000 companies in Taiwan, comprised of entities in the public and private sectors, posted NT$3.58 trillion (US$110.2 billion) in combined net profit, down 17.72 percent from a year earlier, while their aggregate revenue totaled NT$40.55 trillion, down 6.05 percent year-on-year.
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
The decline in net profit and sales is largely related to high inflation and inventory adjustments in the global supply chains, CRIF said.
As Taiwan is a major supplier of the world’s high-tech gadgets, the country is prone to the impact from global economic weakness, it added.
A total of 2,082 Taiwanese companies saw their sales falling year-on-year last year, while 1,107 businesses enjoyed growth in sales and net profit, it said.
Out of the 1,107 companies, 664 generated more than NT$1 billion in sales each, accounting for 59.98 percent, it said.
Among the top 5,000 firms in Taiwan, TSMC, which boasts advanced chip production technologies, raked in NT$838.5 billion last year, keeping the title as the most profitable company in Taiwan, it said.
Hon Hai was second after registering NT$142.1 billion in net profit, ahead of smartphone IC designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科, NT$77 billion), Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控, NT$65 billion) and United Microelectronics Corp (聯電, NT$61 billion), CRIF said.
Other profitable companies last year included CTBC Financial Holding Co (中信金控, NT$57.6 billion), Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控, NT$51.5 billion), CTBC Bank (中國信託銀行, NT$41.3 billion), contract notebook computer maker Quanta Computer Inc (廣達, NT$39.7 billion) and telecom services provider Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信, NT$36.9 billion).
Cathay Financial rose from 11th spot in 2022 to No. 7 last year, Quanta Computer returned to the top 10 for the first time since 2013; and Chunghwa Telecom rose back to the top 10 list after being absent for two years, according to CRIF.
Hon Hai generated NT$3.45 billion in sales last year, the most among the 5,000 companies, with its ranking unchanged from a year earlier. It was followed by TSMC (NT$2.15 trillion); Pegatron Corp (和碩, NT$1.18 trillion) state-owned oil supplier CPC Corp, Taiwan (中油, NT$1.10 trillion), and Quanta Computer (NT$907.95 billion), CRIF said.
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