CORRECTED - CORRECTED-Taiwan's AU posts record profit as LCD demand rises
(Corrects profit growth to 36-fold from more than triple in the first paragraph)
TAIPEI, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Taiwan's AU Optronics Corp (2409.TW) (AUO.N), the world's third-largest LCD maker, posted a record quarterly profit that jumped 36-fold from a year ago as demand and prices for its screens rose sharply.
AU, which supplies liquid crystal display panels to top PC vendors such as Dell Inc (DELL.O) and Hewlett-Packard Co (HPQ.N) and some TV sellers, earned a net profit of T$22.57 billion ($693 million) in the July-September quarter, the company said in a statement on Monday.
That was higher than the year-ago profit of T$612 million and a revised second-quarter profit of T$5.92 billion.
AU had been expected to make a net profit of T$17.84 billion in the third quarter, according to the latest average forecast of 16 analysts surveyed by Reuters Estimates.
A significant drop in spending on new production capacity is keeping supplies for flat-screen monitors and LCD TVs tight and demand could also rise before the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, boding well for the display sector next year, analysts say.
Bigger South Korean rival LG.Philips LCD Co Ltd (034220.KS) posted its strongest profit in 13 quarters and sector leader Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) also posted a rise in operating profits on strong demand for LCDs and cellphones.
In Taipei, AU's shares rose 2.5 percent in the third quarter, lagging the main TAIEX index's 6 percent gain. Local rival Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp (3009.TW), whose quarterly earnings are due out next week, was almost flat during the same period. (US$1=T$32.6)
