LG Display Co, the world’s second-largest LCD panel maker, reported its fourth straight quarterly profit after prices increased on rising demand for flat-panel televisions and computer monitors.
First-quarter net income was 649 billion won (US$586 million), compared with a loss of 347 billion won a year earlier, Seoul-based LG Display said in a filing yesterday.
Sales, including those of overseas affiliates, rose 66 percent to 5.88 trillion won. The average estimate of 10 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News was for net income of 556.7 billion won on sales of 5.95 trillion won.
Operating profit was 789 billion won, compared with a loss of 317 billion won a year earlier and analysts’ estimate of 655.2 billion won.
LG Display’s shipments in the current period will likely increase by a “low to mid teens percentage” from the previous quarter, while average panel prices are expected to be little changed from US$838 per square meter in the three months ended March 31, the company said.
LG Display plans to invest 250 billion won to expand production of carbon-based screens and aims to triple its capacity in the second half of next year to 12,000 glass substrates a month, CEO Kwon Young Soo said in a statement yesterday.
The company also plans to begin production of OLED (organic LED), screens in the third quarter with an initial capacity of 4,000 glass substrates a month. The company aims to supply the screens to smartphone makers this year and television makers in 2011, the statement said.
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