As the institute investor conference for panels is presented in succession, LGD suffered a huge loss of NT$12.49 billion in the third quarter of 2019. During the institute investor conference held last week, LG released a conservative earning outlook for the fourth quarter. The Coretronic and AUO institute investor conference will be held on the 29th and 30th consecutively and this will also the first time that Ke Fu-Ren, the GM of AUO, will oversee the conference after he has returned to re-assume his position at AUO. For the third quarter, the price of TV panels fell by more than 20% and panel makers expect to reduce their production in September. It is expected, by the market, that the loss suffered by the panel manufacturing plants should greatly expand in one season. In the fourth quarter, the Korean panel manufacturers should continue to close down their production lines while mainland-based panel factories will also reduce their production in minor terms. As such, Taiwanese panel factories’ follow-up actions and operations have been receiving significant attention.

 

As the institute investor conferences of panel factories are presented consecutively, it is evident that LGD suffered significantly more than NT$10 billion for two consecutive quarters. Of the accumulated losses in the first three quarters, this year, the company has already reached a loss of NT$30 billion, becoming the hardest-hit victim in the LCD cycle. As for the prospect of the fourth quarter, LGD remains conservative in its views. Though the price decline in panels has slowed down, it has now come to the end of the peak season for the product, therefore, the shipment demand will only be weakened monthly. As a result, LGD has not only cut down their capital expenditure but will also shut down some of its 7.5-generation and 8.5-generation production capacity in South Korea while hoping to prevent further loss.

 

Despite the fact that there has been some shipment growth for large-sized panels in the third quarter, the average price of TV panels has dropped by more than 20% and the two leading panel makers are striving, with great efforts, to turn their revenues for the third quarter to be comparable to that of the previous season. (News source: Commercial Times)