Yageo board members paid highest among TWSE-listed firms, TSMC No. 2

Taipei, Feb. 3 (CNA) Yageo Corp., the world's third largest multi-layer ceramic capacitor (MLCC) maker, on average paid its board members more than any other listed company on the main board in 2022, ahead of contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), according to the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE).

Data compiled by the TWSE showed Yageo paid its board members NT$87.66 million (US$2.81 million) on average in 2022, to remain the TWSE-listed company with the highest pay, while the average pay for board members at TSMC, the most profitable company in Taiwan, stood at about NT$74.40 million.

In 2022, TSMC raked in NT$1.01 trillion in net profit, up 70.4 percent from a year earlier, the first time the world's largest contract chipmaker posted net income topping NT$1 trillion.

During the same period, Yageo posted NT$22.73 billion in net profit, compared with NT$22.90 billion a year earlier.

According to the TWSE, board member pay was equivalent to 3.47 percent of Yageo's net income in 2022, while TSMC's accounted for only 0.07 percent of net profit.

After Yageo and TSMC, CTBC Financial Holding Co. paid about NT$62.47 million on average to its board members, the third highest in 2022, ahead of Largan Precision Co. (NT$37.37 million), a supplier of smartphone camera lenses to Apple Inc., Yuanta Financial Holding Co. (NT$28.31 million), and China Development Financial Holding Co. (NT$26.73 million).

Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp., a smaller contract chipmaker, came in seventh after paying NT$25.27 million on average to its board members, followed by Taishin Financial Holding Co. (NT$24.08 million), LITE-ON Technology Corp. (NT$23.82 million), a maker of power management solutions for AI server use, and food brand Uni-President Enterprises Corp. (NT$23.62 million).

The TWSE said a total of 38 companies listed on the main board paid more than NT$10 million on average to their board members in 2022.

According to the TWSE, 30 listed financial firms on the local main board disclosed the pay of board members in 2022, with the average being NT$9.3 million, led by CTBC Financial.

Among the 65 TWSE-listed firms which incurred losses in 2022 and continued to pay their board members, smartphone brand HTC Corp. paid the largest board member salary of NT$4.08 million on average, followed by Chaiqui Construction Development Co. (NT$2.24 million) and Longchen Paper & Packaging Co. (NT$1.87 million), the exchange said.

On the over-the-counter (OTC) market, IC testing service provider Ardentec Corp. paid about NT$13.56 million to its board members on average, the highest among companies listed on the OTC market, ahead of high-end cleanroom solution supplier Acter Group Corp. Ltd. (NT$11.58 million) and TSMC's contract chipmaking subsidiary Vanguard International Semiconductor Co (NT$11.60 million), the data showed.