Hynix Q3 net loss widens on global glut, higher debt costs

SEOUL, Oct. 30 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's Hynix Semiconductor Inc. said Thursday its net loss widened sharply in the third quarter on lower chip prices and increased foreign debts stemming from a weaker local currency.

Net loss amounted to 1.65 trillion won (US$1.2 billion) in the July-September
period, compared with 707 billion won three months earlier, the company said in a
statement.
The company, which posted a 168-billion won net profit in the third quarter of
last year, reported a fourth-straight quarterly loss.
Sales gained 1 percent from the previous quarter to 1.87 trillion won, but Hynix
posted an operating loss of 463 billion won, compared with a 183 billion won
shortfall the previous quarter.
Despite the worsened bottom line, shares of Hynix rose 4.59 percent to 9,800 won
as of 9:40 a.m. on the Seoul bourse.
The net loss was attributed to costs for the shutdown of its two older domestic
manufacturing lines. Hynix began cutting down its NAND flash output by some 30
percent in September.
Also responsible was the won's plunge against the greenback, which raised its
foreign-debt service costs, Hynix said. The won has fallen 31 percent against the
dollar so far this year, becoming the worst-performing major Asian currency.
The company forecast that a market rebound in the semiconductor industry would
take some time and said it will draw out future investment plans accordingly.
odissy@yna.co.kr
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