AU Optronics approves new CEO

AU Optronics Corp's (友達光電) board of directors yesterday approved the appointment of president Chen Hsuan-bin (陳炫彬) as chief executive officer.

Chen will replace Lee Kun-yao (李焜耀), who doubles as chairman at the world's third-biggest flat panel maker. Chen was tapped to be the firm's vice chairman at the shareholder meeting earlier this month.

Lee, who will retain his chairmanship at AU Optronics, is being investigated by prosecutors for insider trading and stock price manipulation at BenQ Corp (明基), which is 5-percent owned by AU Optronics.

The board also approved the promotion of vice president Chen Lai-juh (陳來助) to succeed Chen Hsuan-bin as president.

Personnel adjustments among top managment are a part of AU Optronics' efforts to cope with fast-growing operations, the company said last year as it brought new names to top positions.

"As the adjustment is a minor one, we believe it will not lead to any major change in the company's operations," said Eric Lin (林宜正), a flat-panel industry analyst with Yuanta Core Pacific Securities (元大京華證券).

Shares of AU Optronics lost 0.89 percent to close at NT$56 on the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday, while shares of BenQ fell 1.2 percent to NT$12.45.

In a bid to strengthen the cooperation between BenQ and AU Optronics, Hsung Hui (熊暉), one of AU Optronics' vice presidents, was appointed to become president of BenQ Corp (明基) following a board meeting yesterday.

Hsung will remain a director on AU Optronics' board, a company statement said.

The new personnel changes are slated to take effect on Sept. 1, the companies said.

BenQ announced in April it would spin off its brand business and change its name to "Qisda Corp" (佳世達科技) to focus on its core contract manufacturing business. Its brand business will become a spin-off unit of Qisda, the company said earlier this month.