Sales of TWSE-listed companies down 8.14% in July

DEMAND:
Despite a general revenue drop, the tourism, food and beverage, building materials and construction, and financial and insurance industries bucked the trend

Companies listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) posted a year-on-year decline of more than 8 percent in combined sales last month as the transportation, steel, and oil, gas and electricity industries saw revenue move lower on weakening demand in the month, the exchange said on Friday.

Data compiled by the TWSE showed combined sales posted by 981 companies listed on the main board totaled NT$3.04 trillion (US$95.6 billion), down NT$269.7 billion or 8.14 percent from a year earlier.

Among the 981 listed companies, 382 registered an increase in sales, while 599 reported a decline in revenue, the data indicated.

Photo: Bloomberg

The transportation industry, which includes major container cargo shippers, generated NT$98.9 billion in aggregate sales, down 41.51 percent from a year earlier, the steepest decline among the major industries on the main board, at a time when high inflation worldwide affected global demand for cargo shipping.

In the oil, gas and electricity industry, which suffered the second-steepest fall in revenue, combined sales fell 28.61 percent from a year earlier to NT$57.9 billion.

The exchange said the downturn in the oil, gas and electricity industry largely reflected a decline in international crude oil prices in the month.

The steel industry felt the pinch resulting from a fall in product prices and saw sales fall 17.88 percent from a year earlier to NT$69.8 billion, the third-steepest decline, according to the exchange.

Bucking the downturn, the tourism, food and beverage industry benefited from eased border controls, posting NT$9.0 billion in sales, up 52.54 percent from a year earlier.

The building materials and construction industry came in second after registering a 25.55 percent increase in sales to NT$34.4 billion as many companies booked revenue from completed construction projects in the month, the exchange said.

The financial and insurance industry reported the third-highest growth in sales, rising 19.08 percent from a year earlier to NT$200.3 billion on the back of an increase in investment returns.

In the first seven months of this year, the 981 listed companies posted NT$20.37 trillion in sales, down 11.68 percent from a year earlier, with 335 reporting an increase and 646 registering a decline, the data showed.

The transportation industry suffered the steepest year-on-year decline of 42.76 percent in sales, which totaled NT $653.9 billion in the seven- month period, while the tourism, food and beverage industry reported the highest growth of 53.17 percent in revenue, which hit NT$55.6 billion, the exchange’s data showed.