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TPV Technology shares fall 11%

By Lillian Liu (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-01-22 07:58

Shares in TPV Technology Ltd tumbled 11.17 percent yesterday after the monitor and flat screen maker warned of "significant" losses in 2008.

The company said in a regulatory filing that one of its subsidiaries in Brazil, AOC do Brasil Monitores Ltda, suffered substantial forex losses due to the depreciation of the Brazilian currency against the US dollar. It did not provide any further details on the losses.

The Taipei-based company is already reeling from its third-quarter losses, when it posted a 43.8 percent decline in net profit from a year earlier period to $31.4 million. The fall was attributed to foreign exchange losses of $23.4 million at its operations in Brazil.

"A liquid crystal display (LCD) TV set is not something one has to have, especially so in time of an economic downturn when people are tightening their purse strings," said Vincent Gu, an analyst at research firm iSuppli Corp.

TPV's LCD TV shipments fell to 6 million sets from 7 million. LG Display Co, the world's second-largest manufacturer of LCD displays, and Corning Inc, the world's biggest maker of glass for flat-panel TVs, have also indicated profit warnings.

Hong Kong-traded shares in TPV fell 56.6 percent in 2008 compared with a 48 percent drop in the benchmark Hang Seng Index. The stock closed at HK$1.58 yesterday.

"Although the demand for LCD TVs remained healthy at the end of the first-half of 2008, we saw our order flow to the US market impacted by the sluggish economy," the company said.

Demand for LCD computer monitors, which account for around 80 percent of the company's revenue, has also fallen in the second half of last year, TPV said.

In an effort to trim costs, TPV said it would cut pay and jobs to reduce expenditure on human resources by 10 percent.

Shane Tyau, the company's corporate finance vice-president, declined to disclose how many of its 30,000 workers worldwide would be laid off.

"Our cost-cutting plan may include voluntary leave, pay cuts and lay-offs but not unpaid leave," he said. "We will do this gradually."

Broker BOC International, however, maintained a "buy" rating on TPV shares, as in its view the company's shares have already factored in the impact of a worsening business environment over the next few years.