China's Kingboard Chem to invest $300 mln over 2-3 yrs

KAIPING, China, Oct 30 - China's Kingboard Chemical <0148.HK>, a maker of printed circuit boards, said on Friday that it will invest $300 million over the next two to three years for a three-fold expansion of its production line in the city of Kaiping.

As the economy improves, the company also expected profit to return to a growth track, Chairman Cheung Kwok-wing told reporters in an interview at Kingboard's factory in the south China city.

"Last November and December, our PCB business almost recorded a loss, but in September this year the group's profit reached a record high, proving the financial crisis has already passed, Cheung said.

Managing Director Chan Wing-kwan said Kingboard's Singapore-listed unit, Elec & Eltek International <EELT.SI>, had already invested about $110 million to upgrade Kingboard's factory in Kaiping to make high density interconnect (HDI) PCB.

He added that the company would invest an additional $300 million over the next two to three years to expand capacity.