Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd (中華映管), the nation's third-largest maker of liquid-crystal-display (LCD) panels, yesterday posted a loss for the fifth-straight quarter.
During the three-month period that ended last month, net losses widened to NT$3.06 billion (US$92 million), or NT$0.4 per share, compared with net losses of NT$1.47 billion, or NT$0.2 per share, in the same period last year, the company said in a statement.
Chunhgwa Picture joined major players such as AU Optronics Corp (友達光電) and Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp (奇美電子) in posting losses, illustrating the challenges facing flat-panel makers as an oversupply of LCD panels dragged down prices in the latest quarter.
Local competitor HannStar Display Corp (瀚宇彩晶) also reported first-quarter losses yesterday of NT$2.34 billion, or NT$0.39 per share.
"We aim to return to profitability in May," Chunghwa Picture chairman Lin Wei-shan (
"We have already felt a supply constraint this month, which may lead to further price hikes," he said.
Customers have placed orders more recently than they did before the computer industry's slack season as they expect a shortage to occur in the second half of the year, said Brian Lee (李學龍), a Chunghwa Picture vice president.
Computer screens were the biggest contributor for Chunghwa Picture, making up 84 percent of its total revenues of NT$29.81 billion last quarter, while TV screens made up 14 percent.
HannStar also said a recovery was underway, which may boost its shipments of computer panels by more than 10 percent this quarter from 4.04 million units last quarter.
Lin Wei-shan, who doubles as chairman of Chunghwa Picture's parent company, Tatung Co (
Lin Wei-shan said he would retain the company's aim of increasing its presence in the high-margin wide-screen panel market. He also said he had no plans to sell the nation's first flat-panel manufacturer to any local peers.
There has been widespread speculation in the industry that Chunghwa Picture could be targeted by rivals such as Innolux Display Inc (群創光電).
Despite Lin's aim of turning the company's fortunes around, "it will be challenging for Chunghwa Picture to eliminate its losses in the short term because of weaker cost efficiency," said Roger Yu (游智超), a flat-panel industry analyst with Polaris Securities Co (寶來證券).
Yu said he expected the company to narrow its losses this quarter as the LCD industry recovers.
The average selling price (ASP) for computer panels is expected to rebound by between 3 percent and 9 percent at quarter pace in the second quarter, while the ASP for TV screens would bounce back by 2 percent to 4 percent, Chunghwa Picture forecast yesterday.
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