Samsung Electronics to invest record $22.7 billion this year on capital spending, R&D

Samsung Electronics announces record spending

SEOUL, South Korea — Samsung Electronics said Monday it will invest a record 26 trillion won ($22.7 billion) this year in capital spending and research and development, betting on future growth despite questions about the global economic outlook.

Samsung said investment in new production facilities means it expects to hire 10,000 new workers this year.

The world’s biggest manufacturer of memory chips and flat screen TVs will spend about 18 trillion won on facilities investment — 11 trillion won for semiconductor manufacturing and 5 trillion won to increase production capacity for liquid crystal display panels, it said in a release. Samsung also said it will spend about 8 trillion won for R&D.

The capital spending total of 18 trillion won is more than double the approximately 8 trillion won the company spent last year, according to a figure provided by Samsung spokeswoman Lee Soo-jeong.

“Although the global economic environment and business conditions remain changeable and uncertain, if we invest aggressively in expanding facilities and in hiring then these circumstances also present Samsung an opportunity for future growth and to stimulate the economy,” Chairman Lee Kun-hee said in the release.

Lee spoke at a groundbreaking ceremony attended by about 500 Samsung executives for a new memory chip plant in the city of Hwaseong, just south of Seoul.

Monday’s announcement came after the broader Samsung Group conglomerate said last week it plans to invest 23.3 trillion won over the next decade in technologies including solar cells and medical devices in a bid to boost sales and expand its work force.

Samsung Group, which consists of dozens of companies in areas including electronics, shipbuilding, finance and fashion, said the money would be spent in five areas: solar cells, rechargeable cells for hybrid electric vehicles, LED, or light emitting diode, technologies, biopharmaceuticals and medical devices.

Moody’s Investors Service hailed last week’s announcement as showing the kind of vision needed to support growth.

“The strategic initiative should have a positive, long-term impact on Samsung Electronics’ credit profile because the global demographics of aging populations in key markets, rising energy costs, and concerns about global warming make the identified industries particularly promising targets for investment,” it said in a statement Monday.

Samsung’s stock took a hit from investors Monday, sinking 3.2 percent to close at 784,000 won amid a 2.6 percent sell-off in South Korea’s benchmark stock index as global jitters about Europe’s debt crisis persist.

Chairman Lee is widely credited as the driving force behind the rise of Samsung Electronics Co. over the past decade or so to the top tier of global technology companies. Convicted of tax evasion and later pardoned by South Korea’s president, Lee returned to lead Samsung in March after stepping down in April 2008 following his indictment.

Samsung said late last month that net profit surged more than six-fold in the first quarter of this year to a record high 3.99 trillion won on strong demand and higher prices for memory chips as well as increased sales of mobile phones and flat screen televisions.

Separately, Samsung Chairman Lee plans to meet with Sony Corp. Chief Executive Howard Stringer next Monday in Seoul, said Lee Soo-jeong, the Samsung spokeswoman. Sony spokeswoman Ayano Iguchi in Tokyo declined to comment.

Seoul’s Maeil Business Newspaper reported the planned meeting in its Monday edition. It said that the two companies are expected to expand their relationship in LCD panels and 3-D. Samsung and Sony formed a joint flat panel venture in 2004.

Lee, the Samsung spokeswoman, declined to comment on the contents of the article, saying that details regarding the meeting were not yet decided.

(This version CORRECTS that capital spending more than doubled from last year instead of tripling.)