LG Display Co has announced that its fourth-quarter operating profit fell by 90 percent from a year earlier, missing market expectations, as weak demand for consumer electronics weighed on panel prices.
LG Display reported a profit of 61 billion won (US$50.6 million), its weakest result since the first quarter of 2012. The company offered no reason for its quarterly profit decline, but several analysts had recently lowered estimates for the firm as weak global economic growth undercut demand for devices such as smartphones, TVs and personal computers.
The figure was below the 110 billion won forecast derived from a survey of 24 analysts. Several market researchers say data pointed to a decline in panel prices for key products during the October-December period.
Han Sang-beom said, "Global display supply will outweigh demand by 12 to 13 percent this year and that the company faces a difficult environment in the January-March quarter."
However, on a brighter note LG Display it said it was planning to invest 460 billion won to increase significantly the mass production of OLED panels by converting several of the company's existing LCD production capacity.