Taiwan's AU Optronics Q2 profits fall vs Q1 on lower shipments, panel prices

TAIPEI, Jul 24, 2008 (XFN-ASIA via COMTEX) -- AUO | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- AU Optronics Corp (2409.TW) said consolidated net profit in the second quarter to June fell from the first quarter due to lower shipments and prices of liquid crystal display (LCD) panels.

"Shipments and prices were lower due to the slow season and uncertainties in the macro environment," chief financial officer Max Cheng told a quarterly briefing for investors.

Net profit dropped to 20.39 bln twd in the second quarter from 26.99 bln in the first as sales fell to 123.48 bln from 136.63 bln.

The second-quarter results were sharply higher when compared with the same quarter last year, when net profit was 5.92 bln twd on sales of 106.01 bln.

AU Optronics shipped 21.85 mln large panels in this year's second quarter, down 0.8 pct from the first quarter but up 12 pct from a year earlier. Large panels are those measuring 10 inches or more on the diagonal.

It shipped 41.88 mln small to medium-size panels, up 11.1 pct from the previous quarter and up 29.9 pct from the second quarter of last year.

The average selling price (ASP) for large panels was 168 usd, compared with 178 usd the quarter before and 151 usd in the second quarter of last year.

In area terms, ASP in the second quarter was 1,324 usd per square meter, versus 1,353 usd in the first quarter and 1,314 usd in the second quarter of last year.

In today's trade, AU Optronics shares closed up 0.85 twd or 2.04 pct at 42.45.

(1 usd = 30.40 twd)

adela.lin@afxasia.com

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