LGD "Last Year's Facility Investment 3.6 Trillion, This Year 2 Trillion... No Increase in Borrowings" (Comprehensive)

LG Display announced on the 24th during its annual and Q4 earnings conference call that "last year, we executed 3.6 trillion KRW in capital expenditures (CAPEX), which is 1.6 trillion KRW less than the 5.2 trillion KRW spent in 2022," and added, "this year, we plan to proceed with investments in the 2 trillion KRW range."

LG Display stated that it will raise 1.432 trillion KRW through a rights offering. Of this amount, 394 billion KRW will be used for debt repayment, aiming to adjust the debt ratio from 308% at the end of last year to around the 260% level.

In order to strengthen future growth in small and medium-sized OLEDs, the company plans to spend 416 billion KRW on facility investments. This will be used to expand IT-dedicated OLED fabs (factories). The remaining 622 billion KRW will be used to purchase raw materials necessary for OLED order production for global customers.

Kim Seong-hyun, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of LG Display, said that they will focus on restoring market confidence by raising funds through the rights offering.

Vice President Kim stated, "There may be dissatisfaction in the stock market, but from an overall perspective, it was clearly a move to restore market confidence," and added, "As in the past, we currently have no difficulties in raising the necessary funds in the financial market."

He emphasized, "Our goal this year is not to increase borrowings."

LG Display Paju Plant exterior view. [Photo by LG Display]

원본보기 아이콘

LG Display expects panel prices to rise slightly in the first half of the year due to the recent earthquake in Japan. LG Display explained, "Due to supply disruptions caused by the recent earthquake in Japan, we anticipate a slight price increase in the first half of the year."

IT OLED mass production is progressing smoothly as planned. Accordingly, the company set its growth target for large OLED panels this year at 20%.

LG Display said, "Preparation for IT OLED mass production is proceeding smoothly as planned," and added, "We expect to start mass production within this year and further strengthen our business structure in terms of overall business sophistication."

They continued, "We are continuously building strong strategic relationships with global TV set (finished product) customers," and added, "This year, we aim for large OLED panels to grow by more than 20%."

Meanwhile, LG Display announced that its preliminary consolidated sales for Q4 of last year were 7.3959 trillion KRW, with an operating profit of 131.7 billion KRW. The operating profit turned positive for the first time in seven quarters since Q2 2022. For the full year, sales were 21.3308 trillion KRW, with an operating loss of 2.5102 trillion KRW.

© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.