LG Display shrinks quarterly loss on Apple, Olympics demand

SOUTH Korean flat-screen maker LG Display narrowed losses from a year earlier in the June quarter as shipments of new panels for client Apple and TV panels before the Olympics improved profitability, analysts said.

The Apple supplier posted an operating loss of 94 billion won (S$91 million) for the April to June quarter, beating an estimate for a 308 billion won loss by LSEG SmartEstimate, weighted towards analysts who are more consistently accurate.

The result also compares with a loss of 881 billion won a year earlier.

“We are improving our performance and solidifying our financial stability,” CFO Sung-hyun Kim said.

“Although we expect ongoing uncertainty and volatility in the market and external environment in the second half of the year, we will continue to expand our business structure.”

LG Display beat expectations as Apple’s new use of Oled panels for iPads and earlier-than-usual Oled panel orders for the iPhone Pro Max 16 for launch later this year helped buoy results, analysts said.

Shipments of large Oled panels and liquid crystal display (LCD) panels for TVs improved ahead of the Paris Olympics that open this week, analysts added.

LCD panel prices also remained solid, with prices of 55-inch LCD panels for TV sets rising 10 per cent on-year in Q2, according to data provider Omdia.

Investors are watching the potential sale of LG Display’s LCD plant in Guangzhou, China, for additional financial stability.

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LG Display had posted six consecutive quarterly losses before reporting a profit in the fourth quarter of 2023, then returned to two consecutive quarterly losses as at April to June.

Revenue rose 42 per cent to 6.7 trillion won. REUTERS