Corning Revenue Slides; LCD Price Declines Ease

   By Anne Steele 
 

Corning Inc. reported its revenue slid more than expected in the latest quarter, though price declines of its liquid-crystal-display glass products eased and are expected to improve.

The company said LCD prices in the first quarter logged the lowest sequential decline in five years, and it expects pricing to moderate further in the current quarter.

"We expect that the company's performance for the remainder of the year will show significant improvement from first-quarter results, and that second-quarter results will reflect the strong underlying trends in our businesses," said Chief Financial Officer R. Tony Tripeny.

For the quarter ended March 31, Corning reported a loss of $368 million, or 36 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier profit of $407 million, or 29 cents a share. The quarted was hurt by a $894 million foreign-currency hedge loss. Adjusted earnings slipped to 28 cents a share from 35 cents a year earlier.

Sales slid 9.6% to $2.05 billion.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had forecast earnings of 28 cents a share on $2.23 billion in revenue.

In January, Corning said it would swap its stake in Dow Corning for $4.8 billion and an interest in a semiconductor company, ending a 72-year joint venture with Dow Chemical Co. that has faced challenges in recent decades. Corning will also receive a 40% stake in Hemlock Semiconductor Group, which makes semiconductors for the solar-panel industry and is currently majority owned by Dow Corning. Corning expects the moves to be substantially tax-free.

Shares, inactive premarket, have risen 18% over the past three months to $20.97.

Write to Anne Steele at [e-mail].

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 26, 2016 09:33 ET (13:33 GMT)

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