UPDATE 1-LG Elec sees Q1 display profit, shares rise

(Adds shares, analyst comments)

SEOUL, April 15 (Reuters) - LG Electronics Inc (066570.KS) 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 its quarterly earnings announcement due Wednesday.

The news, combined with expectations for strong overall first-quarter earnings, sent LG's shares higher in the morning. At 0118 GMT, LG shares were up 0.73 percent at 138,000 won against the wider market's 0.3 percent fall. The stock was up 3.3 percent briefly after the opening bell.

"There is a good chance LG will unveil overall profit numbers well above expectations, thanks to excellent handset results," said Kim Ik-sang, an analyst at CJ Investment & Securities.

LG, the world's fifth-biggest mobile phone maker, is forecast to report on Wednesday 470 billion won ($480 million) in first-quarter net profit against a loss of 122.6 billion won a year earlier, according to eight analysts surveyed by Reuters.

Maeil Business Newspaper reported earlier on Tuesday that growing plasma TV sales and narrowing losses from plasma display panels (PDPs) helped LG's 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, president and chief executive 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 the 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.

"Investors are welcoming the fact that the display division, which was a huge headache last year, is improving," CJ's Kim said.

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.

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