LG.Philips LCD Co., the world“s second-largest LCD manufacturer, said 10 July 2007 it swung to a profit in the 2Q 2007 on cost reductions and strong panel prices.
Net profit was KRW 228 billion (USD…
LG.Philips LCD Co., the world“s second-largest LCD manufacturer, said 10 July 2007 it swung to a profit in the 2Q 2007 on cost reductions and strong panel prices. Net profit was KRW 228 billion (USD 248 million) during the April-June 2007 period, a turnaround from a loss of KRW 322 billion reported a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing. Sales jumped 44.9% to KRW 3.35 trillion and it posted an operating profit of KRW 150 billion, compared with KRW 372 billion in operating loss a year earlier. Analysts had expected the 2Q bottom line to be around KRW 26.3 billion. The company attributed the improved business in the 2Q 2007 to successful cost reductions, strong display prices and increased demand for electronics items requiring flat panels. “Our 2Q“s performance was better than expected”, LG.Philips CEO Kwon Young-soo said in a statement. “This was driven in large part by the successful implementation of our strategies aimed at reducing costs, sustaining a disciplined spending, maintaining healthy inventory levels and developing plans for capacity expansion”, he added. “We benefited from the market“s more rational production and pricing levels”. Until the 1Q 2007, LG.Philips had been struggling with an industry-wide oversupply of flat screens and a strong local currency against the US dollar, both of which put slowed down its export-driven business. Strengthened by better market conditions, LG.Philips, a joint venture between South Korea“s LG Electronics Inc. and Royal Philips Electronics NV of the Netherlands, said that it expects its business to improve further in quarters to come.