AU Optronics Corp (友達光電), the nation’s No. 2 LCD panel maker, posted its strongest operating income in seven quarters, backed by recovering demand for computers and televisions.
Operating income jumped to NT$8.13 billion (US$259 million) in the first quarter of this year — its highest since the second quarter of 2008. It also compares with an operating loss of NT$15.91 billion in the same period last year and an operating income of NT$1.9 billion in the final quarter of last year.
Net income amounted to NT$7.27 billion in the first quarter, reversing losses of NT$20.22 billion a year ago and losses of NT$7.85 billion in the previous quarter. The results also beat estimated profits of NT$5.12 billion by HSBC Securities, which was already 77 percent higher than the market consensus of about NT$3 billion, according to a report dated April 19.
“We think we’re off to a good start ... that we’re already halfway toward success as an old Chinese proverb says,” company CEO Chen Lai-juh (陳來助) told an investor conference yesterday. “We are back on a growth track after emerging from the impact of the global economic recession.”
For the full year, Chen said he was upbeat about demand, supported by buoyant PC and TV replacement demand, as well as demand for new operating systems and gadgets such as tablet PCs, LED TVs and 3D TVs.
This quarter would not be as slow as it used to be, as demand from a shopping spree during China’s Labor’s Day holiday, beginning on May 1, could offset weak demand in the US and Europe, Chen said.
AU Optronics expected shipments of PC and TV panels to grow 10 percent this quarter from the 27.22 million units shipped in the January-March period,
Factory utilization will be almost full, AU Optronics said.
Customer demand is expected to further pick up later this quarter as TV makers begin building inventory for the hot season in the second half, said Paul Peng (彭雙浪), a vice president at AU Optronics.
Peng added that Chinese TV makers were expected to clear up inventory stemming from slower-than-expected TV sales during the Lunar New Year holiday by the end of this month.
Average selling prices for TV and PC panels, which rose by 1.7 percent and 6.3 percent sequentially last quarter to US$242 and US$68 per unit respectively, are expected to hold steady or rise slightly this quarter, the company said.
To fend off competition from the newly merged Chimei Innolux Corp (奇美電子), AU Optronics said it was pursuing a TV manufacturing joint venture with a Chinese partner and deepening partnerships with customers.
These partnerships would absorb 20 percent of AU Optronics annual TV panel shipments by the end of this year, Peng said.
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