(Yicai) Aug. 19 -- Azure, a Chinese lithium battery and light-emitting diode chip supplier, said it plans to invest USD83.9 million to build an LED chip packaging factory in Malaysia to better meet overseas demand and hedge against shifting international trade and tariff risks.

The new plan will focus on LED chip testing, sorting, and chip-scale packaging, with a monthly production capacity of 700 million units, Azure announced late yesterday. The investment is still subject to approval from relevant Chinese and Malaysian regulators, it added.

Suzhou-based Azure has integrated its backlight chips, including its Mini LEDs, into the supply chains of big international clients, securing a leading market share, it noted. Expanding overseas production capacity has become a must to drive the company's future development, it said, adding that it previously set up a lithium battery plant in Malaysia, familiarizing itself with the local investment environment.

Azure's net profit surged 99 percent to CNY333 million (USD46.4 million) in the six months ended June 30 from a year ago, according to its first-half earnings report released on the same day. Its revenue rose 22 percent to CNY3.7 billion (USD519 million), boosted by a jump in market demand for its main products, with overseas income accounting for 13.5 percent of the total.

Revenue from Azure's LED business rose 14.6 percent to around CNY860 million, mainly thanks to its leading position in the Mini LED and other display sectors. In addition, it began small-scale production of high-end chips designed for a big global manufacturer's TV backlight modules while starting mass shipments of other chips for TVs, cars' Mini LED backlights, and phone flashes.

Shares of Azure [SHE: 002245] fell 1.1 percent to CNY18.58 (USD2.59) apiece as of 1.25 p.m. in Shenzhen today. However, the stock has surged more than 55 percent over the past two months, reaching CNY19.25 (USD2.68) at one point yesterday, the highest since August 2022.

Editor: Martin Kadiev