Hsinchu, Taiwan,
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First Quarter 2007 Unaudited Consolidated Financial Highlights
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AUO Corporation ("AUO"or the "Company") (TAIEX: 2409; NYSE: AUO) today announced unaudited results for 1Q2007. All financial information was unaudited and was prepared by the Company in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in Taiwan (“ROC GAAP”). For the first quarter ended March 31, 2007, AUO recorded the company’s consolidated revenue in NT$80.7 billion (US$2.4 billion*), a net loss after tax of NT$5.11 billion (US$155 million), and loss per common share of NT$0.67 (US$0.2 per ADR unit).
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In terms of 1Q2007 panel shipments, large-sized panel declined 4.1% to 15.9 million from 4Q2006 but recorded a significant YoY growth of 70.0%. In the same period, shipments of small- and medium-sized panel decreased by 9.6% QoQ to 22.1 million, yet up 39.9% from a year earlier.
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Mr. Max Cheng, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of AUO noted that due to the impact of seasonal weakness and the qualification of acquired QDI capacity in progress, the fab loading rate for 1Q2007 merely reached 80%. In addition, the Panel Average Selling Price of TV- and PC-related TFT-LCD experienced a significant drop compared to the previous quarter, resulting in the gross margin of 0.4%. We are currently seeing that both price and shipments should rebound starting from 2Q2007 thanks to the improving supply-demand status in the market at the end of 1Q2007. AUO is striving to leverage the advantages of post-merger product mix and production capacity so as to increase profitability through merger synergies starting from 2Q2007.
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*Amounts converted by an exchange rate of NTD33.01:USD1 as of March 31, 2007.