LG Display's production base in Paju / Korea Times file

LG Display said Wednesday its operating losses widened in the third quarter on slowing demand for its key products and falling prices, while remaining in deficit for the second quarter in a row.

The major panel maker reported a third-quarter net loss of 774 billion won ($542.7 million) in a regulatory filing, swinging from a profit of 463.8 billion won a year earlier.

The company said it posted an operating loss of 759.3 billion won for the July-September period, compared with an operating profit of 529.3 billion won a year ago. Sales fell 6.3 percent to 6.77 trillion won.

The operating loss was 27.3 percent higher than the average estimate, according to a survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Agency.

Demand has been waning at an "unprecedented level" both for liquid-crystal display (LCD) and premium organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panels, the company said, as most countries have lifted pandemic restrictions, and people spend less at home and on personal IT devices.

LG Display's next generation OLED.EX display / Yonhap

Enterprise demand has also been slow due to the hostile macro environment, it added.

Panels for IT products took up 45 percent of the total sales, followed by TV panels at 25 percent, according to the company.

Kim Dong-won, an analyst from KB Securities, forecast a dismal outlook for the company in the fourth quarter, citing sluggish demand, even though prices of LCD panels stopped their decline this month, with panel makers actively moderating their supply. He projected LG Display to record a deficit for the year, with an operating loss of 1.3 trillion won.

Demand for OLED TVs has slowed down in Europe, one of the biggest markets.

According to research firm TrendForce, global TV shipments for the three months ending in September reached 51.39 million units, falling 2.1 percent on-year.

TV shipments in the fourth quarter are expected to grow by 10.8 percent quarter-on-quarter to 56.96 million units, but still down 3.5 percent from a year ago, it said.

This year's OLED TV shipments are estimated to only reach 6.67 million units, down 0.6 percent from a year ago.

LG Display said it will continue to scale down its loss-making LCD TV business, with a goal of discontinuing domestic production of LCD TV panels as early as possible. It also said it will reduce production in China in a phased manner. (Yonhap)