Chile's Coca-Cola Embonor to invest $33 mln in 2009

SANTIAGO, April 22 (Reuters) - Chilean Bottler Coca-Cola Embonor EMB_pb.SN said on Wednesday it will invest $33 million in 2009, up 22 percent from a year earlier, to boost its businesses in Chile and Bolivia.

Coca-Cola Embonor produces and sells soft-drinks in far northern and south central Chile, as well as across Bolivia through bottler EMBOL, under license of The Coca-Cola Company (KO.N).

"Given the rapid growth we have had in the last few years ... we need to increase our productive capacity with new bottled drinks lines and a larger presence at sales outlets with drinks machines," Andres Vicuna, the chairman of Coca-Cola Embonor, said in a statement.

The company's planned investment for the 2009-2011 period in Chile and Bolivia totals $100 million, Vicuna said.

Coca-Cola Embonor's profits rose 18 percent in 2008 from a year earlier to around $57 million. (Reporting by Rodrigo Martinez, editing by Leslie Gevirtz)