Samsung LED to spend 164.3 bln won on facility expansion

SEOUL, May 16 (Yonhap) -- Samsung LED Co., the light-emitting diode (LED)-making unit of Samsung Group, said Monday that it will spend 164.3 billion won (US$151 million) to expand production capacity.
The investment, aimed at enlarging existing facilities and purchasing machinery, will be carried out at the end of June, the company said in a regulatory filing.
Samsung LED is a joint venture set up by Samsung Electronics Co. and Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co. in 2009 to tap into the burgeoning advanced display business.
An official at Samsung LED said the latest spending is designed to serve short-term demand through plant expansion, and it does not plan to build a new plant. After the plant expansion, the company will proceed to a long-term investment for the next decade, with a spending plan depending on the market's development.
The LED business is one of the five new businesses that Samsung sees as its future growth engines, along with solar batteries, hybrid batteries for vehicles, biomedical and medical equipment.
Samsung said earlier this year that it will spend 8.6 trillion won for the next 10 years in its LED-making arm, and it aims to post 17.8 trillion won in annual revenue in 2020.
ylee@yna.co.kr