'6 Consecutive Quarters of Losses'... LG Display Reports 2Q Operating Loss of 517 Billion KRW (Comprehensive)

[Asia Economy Reporter Dongwoo Lee] LG Display announced on the 23rd that its consolidated financial statements for the second quarter of this year showed sales of 5.307 trillion KRW, a 1% decrease compared to the same period last year. Operating loss for the same period was 517 billion KRW, and net loss was 503.8 billion KRW.

LG Display stated that the operating loss was due to increased fixed cost burdens for TV and mobile panels caused by global demand uncertainty amid the COVID-19 pandemic and contraction in upstream industries. The decline in LCD panel prices directly impacted the losses.

However, shipments of panels for IT products expanded significantly due to the spread of non-face-to-face culture such as remote work and online classes, resulting in a 12% increase in total sales compared to the previous quarter.

In the second quarter, the sales proportion by product showed that IT LCD panels accounted for 52% of total sales, surpassing 50% for the first time. This was followed by panels for laptops and tablets (29%), monitors (23%), mobile panels (25%), and TV panels (23%).

The company's debt ratio in the second quarter was 190%, current ratio was 81%, and net debt ratio was 91%.

LG Display plans to improve business performance starting in the second half of the year, marking the full-scale mass production at its OLED plant in Guangzhou, China.

The company is also considering expanding shipments of plastic OLED (P-OLED) for smartphones and increasing supply of high value-added LCD products such as those for IT. The P-OLED business will focus on securing supply stability during the seasonal peak in the second half, while the LCD business plans to actively expand opportunities in the post-COVID era, centering on IT panels with differentiated competitiveness.

In particular, for large OLEDs, the production capacity will be expanded from 70,000 to 130,000 units per month based on glass substrate input through a two-track production system in Paju and Guangzhou, effectively responding to the increase in global TV demand.

Seodonghee, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of LG Display, said, "Although the macroeconomic environment is unfavorable due to the prolonged COVID-19 situation, we believe the worst is over. We expect to gradually show visible results from the three core tasks we are pursuing: mainstreaming large OLED, turning around the P-OLED business, and structural innovation in LCD, starting in the second half."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.