SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean flat screen maker LG Display Co Ltd reported on Wednesday its net profit more than trebled thanks to strong demand for flat-screen televisions and tight supplies of PC panels.


But concerns are growing about the liquid crystal display (LCD) industry's outlook for the rest of the year as a global economic slowdown threatens to depress consumer spending while falling panel prices are set to hurt margins.

Shares in LG Display, worth about $12 billion in market value, closed down 6.28 percent on Wednesday to a 52-week low before the results were released, hit by the gloomy outlook, compared with the broader market's 0.92 percent loss.

Analysts had widely expected a downturn to hit the sector at the end of the second half, but they say that slowdown could come sooner and lead to a longer-than-expected slump.

LG Display , the world's No. 2 maker of large-sized liquid crystal displays (LCDs), reported a 759 billion won ($738.3 million) net profit in the second quarter to June 30, in line with a forecast for 752 billion won from ten analysts surveyed by Reuters.

The figure compares with 228 billion won earned in the year-earlier period and 717 billion won in the January-March quarter.

Second-quarter sales on a consolidated basis came at 4.21 trillion won, up from 3.36 trillion won a year earlier but lower than the 4.38 trillion won forecast by Reuters Estimates.

LG Display, which trails domestic rival Samsung Electronics Co Ltd but ranks ahead of Taiwan's AU Optronics Corp , said it expected its panel prices to fall by a low-teen percent in the third quarter, after declining 5 percent in the second.

The company said its margin on earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) was at 38 percent for the second quarter, compared with 39 percent in January-March.

Research firm iSuppli expects the market for large-sized LCD panels, used in TVs, monitors and notebook computers, to grow 19.9 percent this year to $88.9 billion, far slower than a 37.5 percent increase in 2007.

LG Display shares fell 11.8 percent in the second quarter versus a 1.7 percent loss in the KOSPI.

($1=1028.0 Won)

(Reporting by Rhee So-eui and Marie-France Han; editing by Jonathan Hopfner and Louise Heavens)

© Copyright 2008 Reuters.

Photo:
LG Display's round LCD display.