LCD panel maker AU Optronics Corp (AUO, 友達光電) yesterday reported a net loss of NT$572 million (US$17.84 million) for last quarter, its third consecutive unprofitable quarter.
The quarterly result dropped significantly from NT$4.49 billion in net profit a year earlier, the company’s data showed.
However, the size of the net loss shrank significantly from the first quarter’s NT$5.47 billion due to improving demand, company chief financial officer Tseng Yu-chih (曾煜智) told a teleconference.
Driven by strong demand for large-sized TVs, which enhanced average selling prices, AUO’s operating margin swung back to positive territory, reaching 0.1 percent last quarter from the previous quarter’s minus-7.2 percent, Tseng said.
Gross margin improved by 6.4 percentage points to 6.5 percent last quarter, from the 0.5 percent recorded in the first quarter, Tseng said.
AUO shipped more than 24 million large-sized panels last quarter, up 16.5 percent from the previous quarter, Tseng said, while small and medium-sized panel shipments climbed 12.6 percent to more than 42 million panels over the same period.
In addition, AUO’s inventory turnover days dropped to 36 days last quarter because of the strong demand, which is the fastest inventory turnover in the past five quarters, Tseng said.
AUO chairman and chief executive officer Paul Peng (彭双浪) said the recovering demand would grow stronger this quarter and reach the peak in the fourth quarter of this year.
“The demand for all product sizes is growing. Production is expected to run at full utilization rate this quarter,” Peng said, adding that AUO cannot even fulfill some orders from certain clients.
The company’s shipments of large-sized panels for this quarter are forecast to be flat from last quarter’s more than 24 million panels, but average selling prices are expected to increase by between 5 percent and 9 percent quarterly, he said.
Shipments of small and medium-sized panels are to decline by a double-digit percentage this quarter from the previous quarter due to product portfolio adjustment, Tseng said.
Peng said panel prices have dropped drastically since the second half of last year, encouraging TV vendors to promote their products.
As a result, the increasing demand for large-sized TVs in China, North America and Western Europe was the main growth driver for the panel industry last quarter, he said.
Although there are uncertainties in the global economy, demand is likely to remain stable and healthy throughout this year, Peng added.
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