LEAD) LG Display net up 89.5 pct on panel price hike

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By Lee Youkyung
SEOUL, Oct. 15 (Yonhap) -- LG Display Co., the world's No. 2 maker of liquid
crystal display (LCD) panels, said Thursday its third-quarter profit on a
consolidated basis rose 89.5 percent from a year earlier due to a rise in panel
prices.

Consolidated net profit stood at 559 billion won (US$483 million) in the
July-September period, compared with 295 billion won a year earlier, the South
Korean manufacturer said in a regulatory filing.
Consolidated sales rose 54.7 percent to 5.97 trillion won with operating profits
rising 255.9 percent from a year earlier to 904 billion won.
Shares of LG Display closed at 33,250 won on the Seoul bourse, up 0.15 percent
from Wednesday's close. The third-quarter results were released after the market
closed.
The net profit was up 85.1 percent from the previous quarter, while sales were
22.1 percent higher than three months earlier.
Analysts attributed the bullish earnings reports to a rise in global LCD panel
prices that led to strong quarterly performances industry-wide.
According to Texas-based market researcher DisplaySearch, most LCD panel prices
showed rose in September, with prices for 14.1-inch and 15.6-inch LCD laptop PC
panels rising 9 percent from a month earlier.
An uptick in demand as well as panel prices led LCD manufacturers to operate
factories at full capacity. LG Display's newest plants, which are located north
of Seoul and manufacture eighth-generation panels, were all brought to max
capacity, lowering the production costs of a single panel.
ylee@yna.co.kr
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