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Seoul, July 11 (Reuters): LG.Philips LCD, the world’s number-two flat screen maker, posted a 94 per cent slump in quarterly profit on Monday, but earnings beat forecasts and the firm predicted a recovery in panel prices in the second half.

Increased shipments and prices for the South Korean firm’s mainstay 17-inch monitor screens helped it swing back to profit from a first-quarter loss, and second-half net profit is seen growing by around a fifth, analysts said.

“The second-half outlook is clearly brighter than the first as relatively stable prices, the won currency’s weakness and increased shipments all point to better sales,” said Kim Young-il, a chief fund manager at KB Asset Management.

LG.Philips’s full-year net profit is expected to slump to 349 billion won ($330.9 million), a fifth of its record 1.66 trillion won profit in 2004.

After the latest result, the forecast indicates second-half profit of 387 billion won, up from 326 billion won a year ago.

Prices of liquid crystal displays, the most common type of flat screens used in TVs and computers, have dropped at a double-digit rate since late last year as demand failed to meet expectations of manufacturers, who are spending more than $51 billion to ramp up output over the next decade.

“We expect a single digit rise in LCD prices by the end of the third quarter and the business outlook is also seen improving later this year,” the company said in its earnings statement, noting its selling price fell 1.1 per cent in the second quarter.