(2nd LD) SK hynix reports lowest earnings in more than 3 years

(ATTN: ADDS conference call, latest stock price in last 3 paras)

SEOUL, July 26 (Yonhap) -- South Korean chipmaker SK hynix Inc. on Tuesday reported its lowest quarterly profit in 13 quarters as falling demand for smartphones and computers hit chip prices.

SK hynix posted a net profit of 286.1 billion won (US$250.4 million) in the April-June period, down 74.2 percent from the same period last year.

Second-quarter operating profit dipped 67.1 percent on year to 452.8 billion won. Sales fell 15 percent to 3.9 trillion won.

Compared with the previous quarter, sales rose 7.8 percent as shipments for commodity dynamic random access memory (DRAM) grew in the April-June period.

SK hynix said DRAM shipments for the second quarter grew 18 percent from the previous quarter and its average selling price declined 11 percent on quarter.

Shipments for NAND chips, widely used for smartphones, jumped 52 percent on quarter, and their average selling price fell 11 percent.

On a conference call with investors, SK hynix said it will spend about 6 trillion won this year in expanding the capacity of its production lines.

SK hynix also said it will focus on developing chips for self-driving cars and advanced driver assistance systems, citing a "big growth potential" for the automotive memory business.

Shares of SK hynix fell 2.31 percent to 31,750 won in morning trade.

kdh@yna.co.kr
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