Hynix Q1 net loss widens on lower prices

SEOUL, April 24 (Yonhap) -- Hynix Semiconductor Inc., the world's second-largest computer memory chipmaker, said Friday that its net loss widened in the first quarter as the global recession drove down prices.
Net losses reached 1.19 trillion won (US$891 million) in the January-March
period, compared with a loss of 674 billion won a year earlier, the company said
in a regulatory filing. Hynix reported a sixth-straight quarterly loss.
Sales fell 24 percent to 1.19 trillion won over the cited period, and its
operating loss also increased to 652 billion won from 505 billion won.
The memory chip market has been in a slump over the past years, hit by falling
prices and weak demand.
But expectations of a meaningful recovery in dynamic random access memory (DRAM)
chips have been stoked by a recent improvement in spot prices and the prospect
that the weakest players could soon exit the market.
On Wednesday, its creditors decided to inject 1.3 trillion into Hynix, including
700 billion won via a rights offering, to help it weather slumping demand and
prices.
The move follows an injection of 800 billion won in December, when creditors also
agreed to roll over the company's maturing debt by the end of 2009.
The company turned its operations around but is now suffering from a liquidity
shortage due to falling demand and declining chip prices amid a global economic
downturn.