Flat-panel maker Innolux Corp (群創) yesterday posted a third straight loss for last quarter, dashing analysts’ hopes of a turnaround.
During the April-June period, net loss improved significantly to NT$3.48 billion (US$109 million), compared with a net loss of NT$8.58 billion in the first quarter, the company’s financial statement showed.
Innolux made a net profit of NT$5.41 billion in the second quarter last year.
Gross margin returned to positive territory, at 2.3 percent, last quarter, compared with minus-7.2 percent a quarter ago. That represented a decline from gross margin of 16.6 percent in the prior year.
Average selling prices edged down by 0.3 percent to US$289 per square meter last quarter from the previous quarter, the statement showed.
CIMB Securities Ltd had expected a recovery for panel makers in the second quarter and forecast Innolux to eke out a NT$3.68 billion profit last quarter.
For this quarter, the Miaoli-based Innolux gave a robust business outlook, citing recovering panel prices amid seasonal demand and a persistent supply crunch.
Resilient demand will help boost Innolux’s factory utilization to a high gear at more than 90 this quarter, while demand for panels used in TVs, monitors and notebook computers will all increase, the company said.
Order visibility for TV panels is especially good and the momentum might extend into next quarter, it said.
“We are seeing severe short supply in panels used in both TVs and PCs. We will try to better allocate our capacities to make profits,” company chairman and chief executive officer Wang Jyh-chau (王志超) told an investors’ conference.
Shipments of TV and PC panels are expected to grow by about 5 percent this quarter from last quarter, while prices for panels are expected to be flat, as price increases in 40-inch panels might be offset by price declines for 65-inch panels, the firm said.
Innolux said the company’s operation had fully recovered from damage caused by a major earthquake that hit the nation in February.
The company expects to book NT$4 billion in insurance claims.
The company plans NT$35 billion in capital spending this year, mostly on its new 8.6G plant, the firm said.
A new 6G plant, funded by Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and operated by Innolux, is slated to make high-resolution AMOLED panels and begin mass production next year, Innolux said.
The 6G plant is to supply panels used in mobile phones for Hon Hai’s top client, it said.
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