LG Elec sees Q1 display profit on global basis

SEOUL, April 15 (Reuters) - LG Electronics Inc (066570.KS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said on Tuesday it likely saw its display division swing to a small profit in the January-March quarter on a global basis, ahead of the company's earnings announcement due Wednesday.

Maeil Business Newspaper reported earlier on Tuesday, citing the head of LG's display division, that growing plasma TV sales and narrowing losses from plasma display panels (PDPs) helped LG's the display unit to turn around.

"Earnings from our display business are likely to turn around to a profit in the first quarter, although the size will be small," Simon Kang, CEO of LG's display unit, was quoted as saying.

An LG spokesman confirmed Kang's comments, adding the profit forecast was on a global basis that includes the company's performance overseas.

Losses from its PDP business, which is losing ground to increasingly popular liquid crystal display (LCD) screens, have weighed on earnings at LG, the world's second-biggest plasma screen maker in the fourth quarter of 2007.

LG's display division, which makes plasma screens and flat-screen televisions, is likely to post a single-digit percentage operating loss margin on a parent basis, compared with a 6.6 percent loss margin in the fourth quarter of 2007, according to analysts surveyed by Reuters.

On a global basis, the division reported a 0.3 percent operating loss margin in the latest quarter.

Kang told Reuters in January the display division hopes to post a single-digit operating profit margin by the end of the year.

LG, also the world's fifth-biggest mobile phone maker, is set to report its January-March earnings on Wednesday. Analysts surveyed by Reuters expected LG to earn a 470 billion won ($480 million) net profit against a loss of 122.6 billion won in the year-ago quarter.

In the PDP business, LG competes with Japan's Matsushita Eletric Industrial Co (6752.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and home rival Samsung SDI (006400.KS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz). ($1=979.3 Won) (Reporting by Marie-France Han and Rhee So-eui; Editing by Keiron Henderson)