LG Display Q3 profit rises, buoyed by higher TV panel prices (updated)

LG DISPLAY

27/10/2021 07:54

(Adds LG Display's statement and background)
    By Heekyong Yang and Joyce Lee
    SEOUL, Oct 27 (Reuters) - South Korea's LG Display Co Ltd
 034220.KS  on Wednesday reported a more than three-fold jump in
third quarter operating profit from a year earlier, as
pandemic-driven demand for television sets boosted prices for
large-screen flat-screen panels.
    The Apple Inc  AAPL.O  supplier posted an operating profit
of 529 billion won ($449.36 million) for the July-September
period, versus 164 billion won a year earlier, but it missed an
average analyst forecast of 600 billion won compiled by
Refinitiv SmartEstimate.
    Revenue rose 7.2% on year to 7.2 trillion won. 
    Prices of LG Display's mainstay 55-inch liquid crystal
display (LCD) panels for TV sets increased about 57% in the
third quarter year-on-year, according to market data from
TrendForce's WitsView. 
    But the pace of growth has started easing and may weaken
further in the current quarter due to rising supplies and softer
demand as more people get vaccinated and spend less time in
front of screens, analysts said.
    "The panel shipments in the fourth quarter are expected to
increase by mid-10% compared to the third quarter, with the
delayed shipments affected by the industry’s component shortage
.... while the prices of LCD TV panels are expected to remain on
a downward trend," LG Display said in a statement. 
    Shares of LG Display ended down 0.3%, versus the benchmark
KOSPI's  .KS11  0.8% fall.
    
     
 ($1 = 1,177.2300 won)

 (Reporting by Heekyong Yang and Joyce Lee; Editing by Himani
Sarkar & Shri Navaratnam)
 ((Heekyong.Yang@thomsonreuters.com;))