LG Display’s Q2 operating profit down 91%

[THE INVESTOR] South Korea’s display maker LG Display saw its operating profit drop 91 percent on-year in the April-June period, due largely to fierce competition in the global display market.

The Seoul-headquartered company posted operating profit of 4.4 billion won (US$3.88 million) while its revenue came in at 585 billion won, down 13 percent compared to the same period in 2015.

The TV and smartphone displays together account for more than half of the quarterly revenue -- 39 percent and 27 percent each -- while displays for laptop and table PC take up 18 percent and those for monitors account for 16 percent.

Aiming to widening the gap with fast growing Chinese rivals, LG Display said it would beef up the investment in the high-end products such as OLED and in-cell touch panels.

The profit drop is attributed to the price decrease of displays, such as liquid-crystal displays, caused by an increased supply coupled with increasing investment of Chinese and Taiwanese players in the large-sized LCD sector.

Market analysts anticipate that LG Display’s business performance will likely improve in the third quarter as the investment of Chinese display makers in the LCD segment has recently decreased.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com">wone0102@heraldcorp.com)