AU posts record earnings

AU Optronics Corp (友達光電), Taiwan's largest maker of liquid crystal display (LCD) panels, yesterday posted record-high earnings in the first quarter, attributing the strong growth to steady panel prices coupled with rising shipments of large panels for TVs and computers.

Earnings soared 54 percent in the January-March quarter to about NT$11.67 billion, or NT$2.69 per share, compared to NT$7.57 billion earned in thhe previous quarter, the company said.

AU had said previously that first-quarter revenues hit a record NT$41.33 billion.

With a 14-percent increase in shipments of large panels quarter on quarter, gross margin surged to 34 percent during the three months, AU said.

"The first quarter was a stable period [in terms of panel prices]. And the second quarter looks like another stable season, as demand from the corporate side looks quite healthy," AU chairman Lee Kun-yao (李焜耀) told investors yesterday.

Corning Inc, the world's largest supplier of LCD glass, said last month that it will be unable to meet the predicted demand for its products this year.

AU shares have skyrocketed about 80 percent from NT$41.4 in January. The company shed 0.66 percent to NT$75 on the TAIEX yesterday, but an analyst said the company may continue to do well this quarter.

"AU will see an extension of the upswing in the second quarter," said Alex Wu (吳興國), an analyst with KGI Securities (中信證券).

The flat-panel maker expected shipments of large panels to rise an additional low-teen percentage in the April-June period while panel prices climb moderately.

Lee said yesterday that he is cautiously optimistic about 2004.

"There's a slim likelihood of a glut, as the dragging supply constraint in key areas will offset the pressure of a tilt toward oversupply this year," Lee said.

As the momentum for growth is expected to continue throughout the year, AU projected that this year's earnings will more than double to NT$41.66 billion, or NT$9.5 a share, on revenues of NT$186.9 billion. Last year, AU earned NT$15.66 billion, or NT$3.61 per share.

"The financial forecast is very conservative," said Tim Chen (陳建光), an analyst with CLSA Ltd (里昂證券) in Taipei.

Chen projected that AU will earn NT$44 billion during 2004, lifted by a single-digit rise in gross margin as the Hsinchu-based company plans to increase large-panel shipments.

AU said shipments of 20-inch or larger panels for TVs will increase to between 10 percent and 15 percent of total shipments this year after rising to 5.7 percent in the first quarter.

"AU is on the right track to step up its expansion into the promising flat-display TV area," Chen said.