LG Display Swings to Third-Quarter Profit on Seasonal Price Boost

South Korea's LG Display Co posted a 76 percent fall in third-quarter profit on Wednesday compared with a year earlier, after two quarters of consecutive losses, helped by higher seasonal panel prices.

The Apple supplier said operating profit was KRW 140 billion ($123.2 million) for the July-September quarter, beating an average forecast of KRW 79 billion from 10 analysts, according to a Refinitiv poll.

Recovering Liquid-Crystal Display (LCD) prices ahead of the year-end holiday period boosted the bottom line but the firm said the trend was not expected to continue into the fourth quarter.

Revenue fell 12 percent from a year earlier to 6.1 trillion won.

The Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED) TV panel business turned to profit in the third quarter, supported by sales volume growth. The firm did not disclose the size of the profit.

Eo Kyu-jin, an analyst at eBest Securities, said its costly OLED business was not doing enough to shore up profit, and prices of some panels had already begun to fall.

"Demand will go down again after the holiday season in the fourth quarter is over," Eo said.

Prices for 50-inch (127 cm) LCD television panels began to rebound in August to $117 after hitting a record low of $109 in June, according to data provider WitsView, part of research provider TrendForce.

© Thomson Reuters 2018