LG Display reverses into loss as inflation ends COVID-fuelled demand surge (updated)

LG DISPLAY

27/07/2022 06:27

(Adds revenue, price data)
    SEOUL, July 27 (Reuters) - South Korean display panel maker
LG Display Co  034220.KS  said on Wednesday it swung to a
second-quarter loss from a profit a year earlier, as inflation
and interest rate hikes undercut demand for panels used in TVs
and gadgets.
    The operating loss at the Apple Inc  AAPL.O  supplier was
488 billion won ($371 million) for the April-June quarter,
compared with a profit of 701 billion won in the same period
last year. Business had been boosted for several quarters by
strong home entertainment demand during the COVID-19 pandemic.
    The quarterly operating loss, the first since the second
quarter of 2020, was steeper than an average forecast of a 343
billion won loss from 12 analysts polled by Refinitiv
SmartEstimate.
    Revenue fell 20% on the year to 5.6 trillion won, LG Display
said in a regulatory filing. 
    LG Display saw a decrease in panel shipments in the second
quarter as China's prolonged COVID lockdowns disrupted supply
chains, while the industry in general saw demand affected by
increasing macroeconomic volatility and uncertainties. 
    Prices of 55-inch liquid crystal display (LCD) panels for TV
sets fell about 12% in the April-June quarter compared with
January-March, according to data from TrendForce's WitsView.
    LG Display said it will accelerate its plan to reduce its
LCD TV panel business and concentrate more on high-end IT
products.  

($1 = 1,313.6400 won)

 (Reporting by Joyce Lee, Heekyong Yang and Byungwook Kim;
Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Kenneth Maxwell)
 ((joyce.lee@tr.com;))