Hynix plans capital spending increase

Hynix Semiconductor Inc., the world’s second-largest maker of computer memory chips, plans to raise its capital spending for this year by 29 percent to upgrade plants, Chief Executive Officer Woo Eui-je said. Hynix, which reported record second-quarter profits and sales after chip prices surged, plans to boost its capital expenditure budget to 1.8 trillion won ($1.6 billion) from 1.4 trillion won, because the company has more room for funding, a spokesman quoted Mr. Woo as saying yesterday. The Icheon, South Korea-based company is counting on higher memory chip prices to generate enough profit in the coming year so that it can fund new plants and keep up with larger rivals such as Samsung Electronics Co. and Micron Technology Inc. Hynix’s bigger rival, Samsung Electronics Co., in July raised its capital spending budget for this year to 8.9 trillion won from an earlier 7.9 trillion won, after setting aside an extra 1.1 trillion won for memory chip facilities.