AUO Corporation ("AUO" or the "Company") (TWSE: 2409) today held its investor conference and announced its consolidated financial results for the second quarter of 2024⁽¹⁾.

Consolidated revenues in the second quarter of 2024 were NT$74.33 billion, up by 25.0% quarter-over-quarter and up by 17.4% year-over-year. AUO’s net loss attributable to owners of the Company for the second quarter of 2024 was NT$0.23 billion, with a basic EPS⁽²⁾ of -NT$0.03.  

In the second quarter of 2024, the total panel area shipment reached around 5.57 million square meters, up by 5.1% quarter-over-quarter and down by 2.4% year-over-year.

Highlights of consolidated results for the second quarter of 2024

• Revenues of NT$74.33 billion
• Operating profit of NT$0.11 billion
• Net loss attributable to owners of the Company at NT$0.23 billion
• Basic EPS⁽²⁾ was -NT$0.03
• Gross margin was 11.2%
• Operating margin was 0.1%
• EBITDA⁽³⁾ margin was 12.4%

Looking back at the second quarter, the earthquake that took place in early April did temporarily impact the company's output, but with the efforts of the team, production has fully resumed. During the quarter, demand for consumer electronic products has stabilized and rebounded, while brand customers continuing their re-stocking. We have also started to consolidate BHTC’s revenue from the second quarter, expanding the growth momentum of the automotive business; while the vertical business has also shown steady growth. Benefiting from a significant 25.0% increase in overall revenue compared to the previous quarter, operating results this quarter successfully returned to the black, and the overall level of loss has also improved significantly compared to the previous quarter.

Entering the third quarter, the global economic environment is still affected by uncertainties such as inflation and war. Nevertheless, as the company has maintained a diversified business portfolio and has been actively optimizing product mix, as well as stable momentum in the automotive and vertical businesses, these should support further improvement of our operation.

In recent years, AUO has been executing our bi-axial transformation strategy, aiming to maximize the company's know-how in display technology, and transform from a company specializing in panel-based display components into a "solutions provider centered on display technology". In terms of future operation and strategic planning, AUO will change to three different operating structures that will form the three major pillars of our operation: "Mobility Solution," "Vertical Solution" and "Display". Through three different operational structures, focusing and optimizing operations for their respective challenges and opportunities, we aim to minimize the impact from the panel cyclicality, achieving stable profitability and sustainable operations.

(1) All financial information was prepared by the Company in accordance with Taiwan IFRS. On April 2, 2024, AUO completed the acquisition of German company BHTC GmbH (hereinafter referred to as "BHTC") and now holds 100% equity interest in BHTC. Therefore, the financial statements of BHTC were included in AUO’s consolidated financial statements starting from April 2024.

(2)Basic EPS in the second quarter of 2024 was calculated based on the weighted average outstanding shares of the reporting quarter (7,668 million shares).

(3) EBITDA = Operating Profit + D&A, that is, operating profit before depreciation and amortization.