Memorychip maker Powerchip Technology Corp (力晶科技) announced yesterday that the company’s board had agreed to appoint former minister of economic affairs Steve Chen (陳瑞隆) as its new chairman, replacing Frank Huang (黃崇仁).

The Hsinchu Science Park-based chipmaker said in a statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange after the market closed that Huang, who founded the company in 1994, had offered to resign for personal reasons.

Huang’s resignation took effect immediately, but he remains the company’s chief executive officer and will still sit on the company’s board, Powerchip said.

The company has gradually shifted business focus to the contract chipmaking business from PC DRAM chips, and hopes Chen’s appointment will help the company to negotiate with credit banks and the government over loan rollovers and other issues.

Huang’s resignation announcement came as Powerchip is scheduled to see its shares delisted from the GRETAI Securities Market on Dec. 11 after the company’s book value per share fell into the red at the end of the third quarter.

Powerchip’s net value was minus-NT$1.36 per share at the end of September, falling from NT$0.28 at the end of June.

Net losses were NT$4.57 billion (US$158 million) in the third quarter, or NT$2.06 per share. Total net losses for the first nine months of the year were NT$13.17 billion or NT$5.95 per share, the company’s data showed.

Shares in Powerchip rose 4.17 percent to NT$0.25 yesterday, declining 70.93 percent so far this year, the stock exchange’s data showed.