Hsinchu, Taiwan,
AUO Corporation ("AUO" or the "Company") (TAIEX: 2409; NYSE: AUO) today held its investors conference and announced its unaudited results for the third quarter of 2010(1).
AUO posted consolidated revenue of NT$124,403 million (approximately US$3,989 million) (2), down 3.3% from the previous quarter. Gross profit stood at NT$6,241 million (approximately US$200 million), with the gross margin of 5.0%. Operating profit arrived at NT$232 million (approximately US$7 million), with the operating margin of 0.2%. AUO's net income for the third quarter came in at NT$227 million (approximately US$7 million) after tax. Net Income attributable to equity holders of the parent company was NT$98 million (approximately US$3 million), with basic EPS of NT$0.01 per common share (US$0.004 per ADR).
For the first nine months of 2010, AUO reported consolidated revenues of NT$364,553 million (approximately US$11,688 million), with net income of NT$18,747 million (US$601 million) after tax or basic EPS of NT$2.06 per common share (US$0.66 per ADR).
3Q2010 Result Highlights
AUO reported the following unaudited consolidated highlighted results for the third quarter of 2010:
- Revenue of NT$124,403 million, down 3.3% quarter-over-quarter
- Net income of NT$227 million
- Basic EPS of NT$0.01 per common share
- Gross margin of 5.0%
- Operating margin of 0.2%
- EBITDA (3) margin of 18.1%
For the third quarter, AUO's large-sized panels exceeded 28.67 million units, down 3.2% quarter-over-quarter but up 7.4% year-over-year. Shipments of small- and medium-sized panels reached around 55.59 million units, up 0.3% quarter-over-quarter but down 14.2% year-over-year. For the first nine months of 2010, AUO's large-sized panels totaled about 85.52 million units and small- and medium-sized panels topped 168 million units.
"In the third quarter of 2010, the panel industry witnessed inventory adjustments by the customers and the lower-than-expected panel prices. However, thanks to the dual strategy for product value optimization and product portfolio adjustments, our average selling price per square meter dropped by merely 6.5% from the previous quarter, " said Mr. Andy Yang, Chief Financial Officer of AUO. "As such, our company is able to remain operating margin positive for this quarter, and continue to sustain comparative advantage in terms of EBITDA margin. On the other hand, we also proactively adjusted our capacity utilization rates, so that our
(1) All financial information was unaudited and was prepared by the Company in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in Taiwan ("ROC GAAP")
(2) Amounts converted by an exchange rate of NTD31.19:USD1 based on Federal Reserve Bank of New York, USA as of Sep. 30, 2010.
(3)EBITDA=Operating Income +D&A, that is, operating income before depreciation and amortization.