LG.Philips reported a 94 percent fall in profits for the fourth quarter, though they did not lose as much as some analysts expected.
“We continue making steady gains towards our goal of becoming the number one LCD company in the industry,” said Bon Joon Koo, Vice Chairman and CEO of LG.Philips LCD. “In the third quarter of 2004 we began mass production at the world’s largest sixth generation factory, ‘P6’, reaching an average capacity of 35,000 input sheets per month in the fourth quarter. Our advanced technology enables us to further enhance our product offerings, strengthen our market position and fortify our strategic relationships with key customers. We remain committed to growing the LCD TV segment and have announced plans for our seventh generation factory, ‘P7′, which will enable us to meet the future product needs of our customers and capitalize on the growing global opportunity for LCD TVs.”
According to DisplaySearch, the TFT-LCD industry should experience both unit and area growth in 2005. LG.Philips LCD plans to increase its output to meet this anticipated growth and to meet its customers’ needs.
“We expect the industry supply/demand balance will begin to stabilize in the second quarter and then show signs of strengthening later in the year,” commented Ron Wirahadiraksa, President and CFO of LG.Philips. “For the first quarter of 2005, we see our area shipments increasing approximately 9% quarter-on-quarter. We expect a high single digit rate decline on the ASP per net display area shipped at the end of the first quarter of 2005 as compared to the end of the fourth quarter of 2004. As a result, we expect our EBITDA margin rate in the first quarter of 2005 to be in the range of the mid-teens.”
Murdok | Breaking eBusiness News
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