TAIPEI: Taiwan-listed companies, excluding financial holdings firms, reported an overall 21.06 percent average decrease in pre-tax profits for the first quarter of this year due to poor results in the semiconductor, optoelectronics and shipping sectors, the stock exchange said here the other day.
The companies’ pre-tax profits totaled a combined NT$347 billion (US$10.61 billion) in the first three months of the year, compared with NT$439.5 billion a year earlier. Their January-to-March revenue decreased 5.69 percent year-on-year to NT$5.93 trillion, the TWSE said in a statement. Among the 810 companies listed in Taiwan, 406 reported higher profits in the first quarter than the same period of last year.
