South Korea’s light-emitting diode (LED) maker Seoul Semiconductor Co. closed the third quarter with operating income more than doubled from a year ago on record-high sales, thanks to its proprietary Wicop technology that drove up demand for its TV and automotive LED lamps.

Seoul Semiconductor in a regulatory filing on Monday that its operating income for the third quarter ended September 30 came to 25.4 billion won ($22.5 million), up 85.2 percent from the previous quarter and more than doubled from a year earlier.

Its revenue was a record high at 331.2 billion won, gaining 23.5 percent and 16.9 percent from a quarter ago and a year ago, respectively.

Its third-quarter performance beat market consensus of 19.8 billion won operating income and 304.5 billion won revenue.

The Kosdaq-listed stock ended Tuesday down 3.49 percent at 18,000 won on profit-taking.

The company gave a conservative forecast of 300 billion won to 320 billion in the top line amid lingering uncertainties from ongoing Covid-19 outbreaks. But the revenue would be still 7 to 14 percent higher compared to a year-ago period.

The LED maker’s stellar performance was mainly driven by its Wicop technology, or the world`s first package-less LED for headlamp and automotive lighting that is considered a core technology for mini or micro-LED. While LED makers in China was struggling to deliver LED lamp and automotive lighting orders due to Covid-19 setbacks, the Korean LED maker has successfully absorbed demand with steady supplies backed by its factories in four countries – Korea, the United States, Vietnam, and China.

Also, the company took over LED orders from rivaling LG Innotek, an electronic materials and component making affiliate of consumer electronics giant LG Electronics. LG Innotek was the main supplier of LCD TV backlight LED module supplier for LG Electronics but the company withdrew from the market, giving a boon to Seoul Semiconductor.

The global TV demand recovered in the third quarter, gaining 3.8 percent year on year to 56.88 million units, according to data from market researcher Omdia.

Separately, Seoul Semiconductor raked in 195.5 billion won in equity gain from its diode making affiliate Seoul Viosys, which joined the junior Kosdaq bourse in March. The gain is estimated based on the stock closing price on Sept 30.

As a strong intellectual property portfolio holder, its business outlook also looks brighter after it has won a series of patent suits over Wicop technology that has allowed the company to get a fair price on products, said a Seoul Semiconductor official.

In a separate filing on Monday, the company announced a plan to buy back 20 billion won worth of treasury shares to enhance shareholders’ returns. The deal will be managed by Mirae Asset Daewoo.

By Ahn Byung-joon and Cho Jeehyun

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