KB LAMINATES (01888) saw its shares rise nearly 6% during the morning trading session. At the time of writing, the stock was up 3.82%, trading at HK$20.66, with a turnover of HK$203 million. The company recently announced its full-year results, reporting revenue of HK$20.4 billion, a 10% year-on-year increase. Profit attributable to shareholders was HK$2.442 billion, surging 84.16% compared to the previous year.

According to Daiwa, KB LAMINATES plans to expand its annual production capacity for specialty glass fiber cloth to 2,000 tonnes by mid-year, with a further increase of 4,000 tonnes expected by the end of this year or early 2027. The institution forecasts that specialty glass fiber cloth will contribute 3% and 12% to revenue this year and next year, respectively.

Northeast Securities released a research report stating that AI computing power is driving a surge in demand, pushing the PCB industry into a new cycle of volume and price increases. The report highlighted that the upstream segment of the PCB supply chain presents the most significant expectation gap. It noted that continued price increases for copper clad laminates are primarily driven by demand and upstream inflation. In the first half of 2025, prices of key raw materials for PCB production, including copper, resin, and glass fiber cloth, are generally expected to show a volatile upward trend. Under pressure from rising costs, several copper clad laminate manufacturers have successively raised their product prices. Furthermore, strong performance growth is anticipated for upstream materials such as copper foil, electronic glass fabric, and resin.