LG Display Q2 profit up on firm TV sales; meets fcast

SEOUL, July 22 (Reuters) - Quarterly profit at South Korea's LG Display (034220.KS) more than doubled and broadly met market expectations on Thursday, helped by solid sales of flat-screen TVs.

The world's No.2 maker of liquid crystal display (LCD) screens reported a 726 billion won ($603.2 million) operating profit in April-June versus a forecast of 744 billion won from 22 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The result marked a sharp improvement from a revised profit of 352 billion won a year ago, but fell 8 percent from the previous quarter as sales of flat-screen TVs grew less than expected during the World Cup soccer event.

The second half is seasonally strong, but LCD makers face shrinking order books, as TV sales, which account for more than half of the industry's total demand, lose momentum on concerns a debt crisis in Europe will crimp overall IT spending.

Shares of LG Display, which competes with home rival Samsung Electronics Co (005930.KS) and Taiwan's Chimei Innolux (3481.TW), fell 17 percent over the past three months, lagging a flat KOSPI .KS11. (Reporting by Miyoung Kim and Seo Ji-won; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner and Anshuman Daga)