Samsung SDI Q2 op profit up on battery, TV demand

SEOUL, July 21 (Reuters) - Samsung SDI (006400.KS) reported on Tuesday a 33 percent rise in quarterly operating profit, helped by strength in rechargeable batteries and improving demand for plasma screens used in televisions.

Samsung SDI posted a 48.8 billion won ($38.95 million) operating profit on a consolidated basis in the second quarter, beating a consensus forecast of 14.3 billion won from Reuters Estimates.

The figure compared with a 36.6 billion won profit a year earlier and a 76 billion won operating loss in the January-March quarter.

Second-quarter net profit came at 58 billion won, also larger than a forecast of 30.1 billion won.

Samsung SDI spun off its mobile display unit last year into a 50-50 joint venture with Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) and has since been focusing on lithium ion batteries.

Its plasma display panel business, stuck in a tough competition with liquid crystal display (LCD) technology, has been plagued by falling screen prices, but healthy consumer demand for flat-screen TVs helped the results, Samsung SDI said. ($1=1252.7 Won) (Reporting by Rhee So-eui; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner)