AU Optronics Corp (友達光電), Taiwan’s largest maker of liquid-crystal-display (LCD) panels, posted net losses of NT$7.9 billion (US$237.9 million) in the fourth quarter of last year, as the company wrote off legal costs for antitrust litigation in the US.
The losses narrowed from NT$26.6 billion a year earlier and compared with earnings of NT$7.4 billion in the third quarter.
Losses per share in the fourth quarter and the same period of 2008 were NT$0.78 and NT$3.03 respectively.
LEGAL CASE
AU Optronics set aside litigation costs of around NT$10 billion because the firm is under investigation for alleged price fixing.
The company is considering a settlement in the probes, chief financial officer Andy Yang (楊本豫) told an investor conference yesterday.
Last month, Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp (奇美電子) pleaded guilty in the price-fixing probe and agreed to pay US$220 million.
AU Optronics consolidated sales for the fourth quarter nearly doubled from a year earlier to NT$114.9 billion.
For the whole of last year, the company’s sales were down 15.2 percent year-on-year to NT$359.3 billion, while net losses amounted to NT$27.2 billion, compared with earnings of NT$21.6 billion in 2008.
Bidding goodbye to a financially turbulent year, the company said this year would be full of opportunities.
“The demand is on the upside,” chief executive Chen Lai-juh (陳來助) said. “We expect stable and healthy growth.”
He attributed the upside factors to a gradual recovery in the global economy, and the launch of the Windows 7 operating system which would prompt users to replace their computers.
UTILIZATION
Utilization rates of production facilities are expected to be more than 90 percent this quarter, similar to last quarter, Yang said.
Shipments of large panels this quarter are expected to be similar to the fourth quarter, while shipments for small and medium panels would drop more than 10 percent sequentially, Yang added.
Average selling prices of TV panels would increase slightly, while prices for other tech products’ panels would expand in the single digits from last quarter, he said.
Capital expenditure this year would increase to NT$100 billion from last year’s NT$61 billion. The bulk of the spending would go into LCD equipment.
AU Optronics hares rose 3.7 percent to close at NT$38 in Taipei trading before the earnings release.
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