LG Display posts strong profit, LCD demand booms

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean flat screen maker LG Display Co Ltd (034220.KS) reported a strong first-quarter net profit, after a loss a year ago, as a booming market for thinner, sleeker TVs boosted panel demand amid tight supplies.

LG Display (LPL.N), the world's No. 2 maker of large-sized liquid crystal displays (LCDs), earned 717 billion won ($735.1 million) in January-March net profit against a 169 billion won loss a year earlier and a 760 billion won net profit in the previous quarter.

The result was in line with a forecast for 715.5 billion won from eight analysts surveyed by Reuters.

LCD panel makers saw solid demand and steady pricing in the traditionally slow first quarter, helped by sharp cuts in investment last year.

Earnings are set to increase further in the second and third quarters, with sales of LCD TVs to replace bulky tubes seen picking up ahead of the Beijing Olympics in August.

Shares in LG Display, which competes with leader Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS) and Taiwan's AU Optronics Corp (2409.TW), fell 10 percent in January-March, in line with the broader market's loss.

($1=975.3 Won)

(Reporting by Rhee So-eui and Marie-France Han; Editing by Keiron Henderson and Lincoln Feast)