Search results for

Few Asian companies have been as widely feted as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). A mainstay in polls of the region's best-managed companies, it's known around the world as a leader in its field. And yet some analysts seem to sense that this is as good as it's going to get. "Approaching the peak" and "On top of the hill" were the titles of two recent research reports on the stock, triggered in part by rising inventory at several foundry customers —a negative development for those that supply them. "TSMC cannot simply forever run at an above 100% utilization rate while the downstream sectors are seeing seasonal weakness," said Macquarie Research Equities analyst Warren Lau in March. "We have seen the best of TSMC in terms of profitability, and momentum and earnings cycles are also peaking."

If there is a fall guy in the Egat debacle, then it's probably Kraisi Karnasuta, the 58-year-old governor. A kind, soft-spoken and honest man who typically shunned the limelight, he became the public face of Egat in the months leading up to the ill-fated IPO. It was Kraisi who assured employees that their jobs would be secure, and who liaised with the Ministry of Energy and government officials. "He was the front man," says one investment banker. "He took the orders and passed them on to the troops."

In a new monthly section, Asiamoney will focus on the trends and developments in the region's leading sectors, bringing you the views of the people within the industry and those who analyze it. Each month a different sector comes under the spotlight. There'll be profiles, rankings and analysis and interviews with the people driving the industry, as they discuss their strategies and how their decisions will impact the financial markets and the views of global investors. This month, the semiconductor industry is examined.

In Taiwan, three companies dominate dynamic random access memory (DRAM), the chips used in most mainstream computers. They are Powerchip Semiconductor, Nanya Technology and ProMos Technology. This is the unsexy end of the memory sector—NAND flash chips, monopolized by Korean and Japanese chipmakers, are more dynamic but prices have been more stable in DRAM. "The DRAM market looks great right now," says Jeffrey Toder at ABN AMRO. "Samsung has had a capacity constraint and that has helped balance supply and demand in the market as a whole." As a mature market, it's quite a stable one and doesn't need the drama of new devices.

ASM Pacific Technology

In Australia, John Howard bows to pressure and scuppers the sale of Snowy Hydro, while Bank of China debuts in Hong Kong with its eagerly-awaited US$9.7 billion IPO. Meanwhile, India and Thailand report higher-than-expected first-quarter growth figures.

John Studzinski is moving on after a short career at HSBC. During his brief tenure, he lured some top talent to the bank, but his inability to manage them, or any of the incumbent staff, proved his downfall. Elliot Wilson reports.

Asia's once-insurmountable barriers are becoming blurred, but the best financial institutions still stand out. ASIAMONEY polls regional analysts and investors to find the best homegrown banks and trading houses.

Private equity deals that make the headlines for all the right reasons are proving hard to come by in Korea. With the political and financial environment changing rapidly, private equity has no choice but to evolve. Opportunities still exist in Korea, but as the travails of US firm Lone Star show, it isn't easy out there. Richard Morrow reports.

In May, San Miguel was forced to postpone Asia's debut corporate hybrid bond following accusations in an unsigned poison pen letter alleging a subsidiary of the Philippine blue-chip had overstated sales. While it wants to return to the market, it may be the only Asian borrower of such debt for some time to come. Richard Morrow reports.

After the collapse of what should have been the biggest and most important IPO in Thailand's history, Ben Davies goes behind to scenes to find out why the privatization, talked of for so long, ended up in such a mess. And who is ultimately to blame?

The problems started for Ernst & Young when it decided to offer an opinion about China's non-performing loans. Will they dare challenge the official figures again?