Taiwan’s 15 financial holding companies (FHCs) scored combined profits of NT$198.377 billion (US$6.613 billion) in 2013, presenting an annual rise of 19.45%. Among them, Cathay, Mega Financial Holding Co., CTBC Financial Holding Co., and Fubon Financial Holding Co. each raked in profits of over NT$

The overall value of Taiwan's top-20 international brands dropped 14.3% to US$10.637 billion in 2013, compared to US$12.412 billion a year earlier, according to the latest survey published by Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA). The retreat comes at a time when HTC, Acer and other high-tech compani

Both Everlight Electronics Co., Ltd. and Epistar Corp. saw their 2013 revenue surge past the NT$20 billion (US$666.6 million) mark to hit new highs, with December revenues topping expectations. Everlight, the world’s No.1 LED packager by volume, had revenue of NT$24.6 billion (US$823 million) by

Funbon Financial Holding Co. posted after-tax profits of NT$32.69 billion (US$1.076 billion) in 2013, with earnings per share (EPS) of NT$3.31 (US$0.11), both being the highest among Taiwan’s financial holding companies. In the same year three government-linked FHCs, namely, Mega Financial Holdi

By MICHELLE HSU The Taiwan International Cultural and Creative Industry Expo, organized by the Ministry of Culture since 2010, is now in its 4th iteration. During its short life the expo has strived to turn “creative ideas” into “commercial value” and play the role of a platform for communicatio

So far 10 Taiwanese banks have been operating in China for over one year to have generated profits there in 2013 of US$65.8 million or about NT$2 billion, surging 123% from 2012’s corresponding figure of US$29.5 million. Of the 10 banks, two scored profits of over US$10 million each, which were

In December 2013 alone, Taiwan’s machinery shipments surged 18.9% from the same month of 2012, to US$1.88 billion, bringing total shipments of the Taiwan industry for 2013 to US$19.7 billion to beat originally projected contraction rate of 2-3% year on year with a slower downtrend of 1.6%. The T

Tong Yang Industrial Co., Ltd., a major maker of aftermarket (AM) plastic body-parts and an Original Equipment (OE) parts supplier to many international automakers, recently publicized operational results for 2013. The company's self-audited pretax consolidated revenue totals NT$19.62 billion (U

Dynamic random access memory (DRAM) makers Nanya Technology Corp. and Inotera Memories Inc., both under the Formosa Plastics Group (FPG), reported strong earnings and sales for Decembers 2013, mostly thanks to supply shortage after a fire at SK Hynix Inc.’s factory in Wuxi, China in September 2013,

Taiwan’s credit card spending in November 2013 reached NT$152.7 billion (US$5.09 billion), down by NT$20 billion (US$666.67 million) from a month earlier, with first-11-month transactions rising to NT$1.737 trillion (US$57.9 billion), up 7.5% year on year. Eight of the 11 months saw monthly spen

For the first time in 13 years, the Taiwan Hardware Show (THS) was held in Taichung City in 2013, where it drew more visitors than ever and likely created more business opportunities for the island’s manufacturers than any of its predecessors. The previous 12 shows were held in Taipei, northern Tai

Founded in 2003, Sheng Yi Industrial Co., Ltd. is a fast-growing manufacturer of forgings and forged parts and components with a decade of experience in forging and mold development. To meet rising demand, the company moved to a new 5,000-square-meter factory in Taichung City, central Taiwan, in 2

Mainly driven by significantly higher production in December, revenue at Formosa Plastics Group’s four flagship companies, Formosa Plastics Corp., Nan Ya Plastics Corp., Formosa Chemical & Fibre Corp. and Formosa Petrochemical Corp., totaled approximately NT$497.601 billion (about US$16.87 billion)

Taiwan’s syndicated loans market from January 1 to December 16 of 2013 reached US$25.091 billion, down 3% from 2012’s US$25.769 billion to be a new low in four years, according to the statistics compiled by Bloomberg, a U.S.-based business news and financial information provider. Among the top 1

According to the president of the Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry (TAMI), J.C. Wang, the island’s machinery exports as whole will rise an estimated 5%-10% year on year to hit new high of US$20.5-21.5 billion or so, due mostly to recovering demand worldwide for capital equipment from aircra

To help advertisers who are manufacturers, exporters and traders to find potential business opportunities globally, CENS attended 11 overseas trade shows in November, including Automotive Aftermarket Products Expo (AAPEX), SEMA Show, InterLight Moscow, Moscow International Tool Expo (MITEX), METALE

A record number of 2,360 exhibitors from 38 countries took part in the 15th HKTDC Hong Kong International Lighting Fair (Autumn Edition), held Oct. 27-30 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center (HKCEC), drawing 38,030 buyers from 144 countries and regions. This year, the event featured t

Driven by high growth in emerging markets, especially China, global sales of new cars have been rapidly expanding in recent years, with successful rise of German automaker Volkswagen (VW) and Korean player Hyundai helping to fuel already intense competition in the market. Impacted by global rec

New head wants to reorganize the association and get more government resources The 13th annual general meeting of the Taiwan Hand Tool Manufacturers’ Association (THTMA) concluded on Sept. 13, 2013 in the central city of Taichung with the election of a new board of directors and supervisors as w

New head wants to reorganize the association and get more government resources The 13th annual general meeting of the Taiwan Hand Tool Manufacturers’ Association (THTMA) concluded on Sept. 13, 2013 in the central city of Taichung with the election of a new board of directors and supervisors as w

A sizable number of Taiwanese manufacturers of plastic processing machinery and related components took part in the K Fair 2013, held October 16-23 in Dusseldorf, Germany, the world’s largest trade fair for the plastics industry. This year’s K Fair hosted over 3,100 exhibitors from 59 countries an

The Industrial Economics & Knowledge Center under the government-sponsored Industry & Technology Intelligence Services program (IEK-ITIS) recently published statistics on transportation vehicle industry production in Taiwan for the third quarter of 2013. The data covered assembled vehicles, auto pa

Manufacturers look to South America to make up for falling European sales The market for powered two-wheelers (PTWs) in Taiwan has long matured. Statistics show that in 2013 each 1.54 Taiwan residents owned one PTW, up from 1.91 per PTW in 2001. Ownership on the island has just about hit its cei

The overall value of Taiwan's top-20 international brands dropped 14.3% to US$10.637 billion in 2013, compared to US$12.412 billion a year earlier, according to the latest survey published by Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA). The retreat comes at a time when HTC, Acer and other high-tech compani

Most of Taiwan’s machine-tool makers made encouraging profits in the first third quarters of 2013 in spite of several disadvantageous developments, including the recent revaluation of the New Taiwan dollar against the U.S. dollar that has made Taiwan's exports less competitive against Japanese and

With the second straight quarter of growth, Taiwan’s hand tool industry finished the third quarter of 2013 with output of NT$18.4 billion, up 9.6% year-on-year (YoY), according to the latest report authorized by Metal Industries Research & Development Centre (MIRDC), a government-funded research i

With the freight market simmering but passenger traffic declining for seasonal factors, Taiwan’s three main airlines, China Airlines Ltd., EVA Airways Corp. and TransAsia Airways Corp., reported mixed performance for November 2013. China Airlines, the island’s largest carrier by fleet size, scor

Taiwan has long been a mature market for powered two-wheelers (PTWs) as most the population crowds in major cities in the west part of the island. Statistics show that in 2013 each 1.54 Taiwanese people own one PTW, compared to 1.91 people in 2001, implying an almost ceiling ownership volume. Th

Technology upgrading and transformation from OEM (original equipment manufacturing) to ODM (original design manufacturing) and OBM (original brand manufacturing) are essential efforts for Taiwanese hand tool manufacturers in their pursuit of enhanced added value. To achieve success in those efforts

Despite lingering uncertainty, the global economy was still on the mend steadily in the second quarter of this year, sustaining the improvement of Taiwan’s job market, as the island’s net employment outlook stood at 30%, down 3 percentage points from a quarter ago but hitting the highest globally,