(LEAD) LG Display posts strong Q3 earnings on robust panel demand, OLED biz

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By Woo Jae-yeon

SEOUL, Oct. 27 (Yonhap) -- LG Display Co., South Korea's major display panel maker, said Wednesday that its third-quarter net income surged 4,067.5 percent from a year earlier to 463.5 billion won (US$396.1 million), largely driven by strong demand and profitability of its OLED business.

Operating income jumped 221.8 percent to 528.9 billion won in the three months ending in September, 17.3 percent lower than previously expected.

Sales rose 7.2 percent on-year to 7.22 trillion won.

Continued growth in pandemic-led demand for consumer electronic devices helped boost the company's top and bottom lines.

But declining LCD panel prices and intensifying competition with Chinese rivals dim the company's outlook in the fourth quarter, analysts said.

Kim Chan-woo, a researcher at Shinhan Investment Corp., cited "sagging demand for LCD TV and steep price decline" as causes for concern over the company's fourth-quarter performance.

"As LCD panel prices keep going down, the company is expected to speed up its portfolio restructuring efforts to put more focus on high-margin products," he said in his latest report, adding that OLED products will help boost the company's performance going forward.

LG Display has said it will strengthen its OLED and POLED businesses to offset declines in LCD revenue and further boost profit.

The display maker projected OLED TV sales to reach 8 million units this year, and said it will pump up production, with its plant in Guangzhou, China, expanding capacity.

LG Display is the world's sole supplier of large-size OLED panels for TVs, but it showed relatively weak competitiveness in the medium-and-small sized OLED sector. In August, the company said it will invest 3.3 trillion won in the sector to boost its production capacity.

jaeyeon.woo@yna.co.kr
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