Taiwan's TSMC says does not rule out mergers

TAIPEI, May 16 (Reuters) TSMC, the world's top contract maker of microchips, did not rule out on Tuesday mergers with other companies, but said there was no such plan for the time being.

A company spokesman confirmed that TSMC Chairman Morris Chang had raised the possibility of mergers at an annual shareholders' meeting. Chang did not give details.

The comments came as some of Taiwan's technology firms are boosting their economic scale through mergers or acquisitions to strengthen competitiveness.

AU Optronics Corp., the world's third-largest display maker, said in April it would acquire smaller local rival Quanta Display to get a stronger foothold in the highly competitive LCD market.

TSMC's business has recovered steadily from a slump last year.

The company reported a near doubling in first-quarter profit last month amid growing demand for new consumer devices.

Analysts widely expect the company's profit to grow quarter by quarter this year.

TSMC's Taipei-listed shares fell 1.27 percent to close at T.40 on Tuesday, in line with a 1.48 percent fall in the main TAIEX share index.

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