LG.Philips Reports Q4 Loss, But 3% Sales Gain

-- TWICE, 1/16/2007 9:14:00 AM

Seoul, South Korea — LG.Philips LCD reported increased sales but a loss for the fourth quarter, ended Dec. 31.

According to unaudited earnings results, fourth-quarter sales increased 3 percent to $3.3 billion vs. $3.2 billion for the previous year’s fourth quarter. The operating loss in the fourth quarter of 2006 was $190 million vs. an operating profit of $359 million for the same period in 2005.

Earnings before interest, tax and amortization (EBITA) in the fourth quarter of 2006 was $601 million, a year-over-year decline of 32 percent from $886 million in the fourth quarter of 2005.

The company reported a net loss of $187 million in the fourth quarter of 2006 vs. a net profit of $353 million during the same time the previous year.

In a prepared statement, Ron Wirahadiraksa, chief financial officer of LG.Philips LCD, said, “We are encouraged by our performance this quarter and the results of the enhanced cost-reduction initiatives we are implementing.’

He added, “The increasing number of long-term supply agreements we have secured reflects our continued focus on closer customer collaboration as we head into a challenging market environment in 2007.”

Revenues in the fourth quarter by product category were, in percentages: TFT-LCD panels for TVs, 48 percent; desktop monitors, 27 percent; notebook computers, 21 percent; and other applications, 4 percent.

Overall, the company shipped a total of 2.3 million square meters of net display area in the fourth quarter of 2006, a 14 percent increase quarter-on-quarter, with an average selling price per square meter of $1,414. This represents a decrease in the average selling price per square meter of net display area of approximately 3 percent compared with the end of the third quarter of 2006, and an average decrease of 1 percent from the third quarter of 2006.

LG.Philips anticipates in the first quarter of the year “a mid-single-digit decrease percentage in total area shipments sequentially, where TV decreases by a high-teens and IT increases by a mid-single-digit percentage,” commented Wirahadiraksa.

Amounts in Korean won for this report are translated into U.S. dollars at the noon buying rate in effect Dec. 29, 2006, which was 930.00 won per U.S. dollar, LG.Philips said.