LG Display shrinks quarterly loss on Apple, Olympics demand

International consumer technology fair IFA in Berlin·Reuters
Joyce Lee and Heekyong Yang
Updated 2-min read
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By Joyce Lee and Heekyong Yang

SEOUL (Reuters) -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 ($67.8 million) for the April-June quarter, beating an estimate for a 308 billion won loss by LSEG SmartEstimate, weighted toward 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 in a statement.

The company, however, declined to say anything about potentially turning a profit in the second half of the year, citing market volatility.

"There is still much uncertainty around demand for end-products in each segment," said Senior Vice President Lim Seung-min, referring to gadgets that use panels such as smartphones, tablets and PCs.

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% on-year in Q2, according to data provider Omdia.

Asked about the potential sale of LG Display's LCD plant in Guangzhou, China, the CFO said the company was considering several options concerning non-strategic assets. He gave no further details.

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 of April-June.

Revenue rose 42% to 6.7 trillion won.

($1 = 1,386.3900 won)

(Reporting by Joyce Lee and Heekyong Yang; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Stephen Coates and Miral Fahmy)