TMCnet News
LCD maker Japan Display debuts on Tokyo Stock Exchange(Japan Economic Newswire Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Japan Display Inc., the world's largest manufacturer of liquid crystal displays for smartphones and tablets, debuted Wednesday on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's First Section. The company, formed in April 2012 by integrating the LCD businesses of Hitachi Ltd., Toshiba Corp. and Sony Corp., fetched 769 yen at the outset of trading, compared with its offering price of 900 yen. It ended the morning session at 758 yen. The initial public offering of over 300 billion yen is the second-largest in the world this year following HK Electric Investments Ltd. in Hong Kong, according to research firm Dealogic. The market capitalization based on the price quoted at the outset is about 462.5 billion yen, just shy of rival electronics maker Sharp Corp. at over 500 billion yen. Japan Display will use around 123 billion yen of proceeds from new shares issued to expand production of panels used in smartphones. The company will bolster the capabilities of plants in the city of Mobara in Chiba Prefecture and the city of Nomi in Ishikawa Prefecture and set up a production line for prototype organic light emitting displays at a plant in the town of Kawakita in Ishikawa Prefecture. Tatsunori Kawai, chief strategist at kabu.com Securities Co., attributed the lackluster performance of the share to concerns among investors about the outlook of the LCD market. "There are some doubts about the company's potential," he said, adding the LCD market is saturated and it would be hard to show a strong presence among South Korean and other rivals. Meanwhile, the company announced its earnings estimate for fiscal 2013 through March 2014. It projects a group net profit of 36.6 billion yen, up from 3.56 billion yen the previous year on sales of 623.4 billion yen, up from 165.14 billion yen. (c) 2014 Kyodo News |