Hanwha Group to jack up 2016 capital spending by 17 pct

SEOUL, Jan. 29 (Yonhap) -- Hanwha Group, a defense and chemical conglomerate, said Friday that it plans to spend 3.4 trillion won (US$2.82 billion) this year in a bid to further nurture its key businesses -- solar, petrochemicals and defense.

The earmarked spending for the year marks a 17 percent hike from last year's 2.9 trillion won, according to the group.

For the year, Hanwha Group is aiming to generate 65.7 trillion won worth of sales, up 9 percent from a year earlier, and hire 5,100 employees, which is equal to 12 percent of its total workforce.

Hanwha launched its solar energy business in 2010, when its chemical unit, Hanwha Chemical Corp., acquired Hanwha SolarOne, formerly known as Solarfun Power Holdings, a Chinese solar modules manufacturer.

Two years later, Hanwha Chemical took over the German solar cell maker Q-Cells, which filed for bankruptcy in 2012 amid an industrywide slump.

The South Korean conglomerate also has been speeding up the reorganization of its business portfolio. In late 2014, it announced the takeover of four companies, including Samsung Techwin Co., affiliated with the country's top conglomerate, Samsung Group, for about 2 trillion won.

sam@yna.co.kr
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