Listed firms' facility investments fall 28.3 pct in 2009

listed firms-investment


SEOUL, Feb. 1 (Yonhap) -- South Korean listed companies' facility investments
shrank 28.3 percent last year from a year earlier as firms refrained from capital
spending amid a global economic slowdown, the bourse operator said.

A total of 110 firms listed on Seoul's main bourse and the tech-heavy KOSDAQ
posted a combined 27.1 trillion won (US$23.3 billion) in facility investments,
mainly to be spent on the construction or expansion of facilities in a regulatory
filing with the Korea Exchange (KRX), it said.
The reported spending for 2009 was down 28.3 percent from 37.8 trillion won
posted by 117 listed firms the previous year, according to the KRX.
Companies listed on the KRX bourse are required to submit a regulatory filing
after deciding to spend either 10 percent or more of their equity capital or more
than 100 billion won to install new facilities.
Firms with more than 2 trillion won in assets should report to the KRX when
planned investments exceed 5 percent of their equity capital.
Some 22.2 trillion won of the 2009 total was posted in the second half of last
year, indicating a robust recovery in facility investment, the KRX said. The
second-half figure marks the largest amount ever reported for any six-month
period, it said.
LG Electronics Co. posted the biggest investment plan of 3.3 trillion won last
year, with the funds to be used for expanding production lines for liquid crystal
displays, followed by Hynix Semiconductor Inc.'s 2.1 trillion won.
The data came as companies reduced capital spending in a bid to ride out a
potential liquidity crisis on the back of the worst economic downturn in a
decade.
pbr@yna.co.kr
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