Taipei  - AU Optronics, the world's largest maker of large-sized thin film transistor liquid crystal display panels reported a better-than-expected performance in the first quarter on Tuesday.

In the first quarter, AUO's revenues totaled 136.63 billion Taiwan dollars (4.5 billion US dollars), down 12 per cent from previous quarter.

The company's net income after tax was 26.99 billion Taiwan dollars (889 million US dollars), and basic earnings per share of 3.41 Taiwan dollars (1.12 US dollars).

AUO shipped large-sized panel of 22 million units, down 5 per cent from previous quarter but up 38 per cent year-on-year.

Small- and medium-sized panel shipments amounted to 37.68 million units, down 21.5 per cent from previous quarter but up 70.3 per cent year on year.

Company spokesman Max Cheng said that while the first quarter is low season, AUO was able to hit the second record high in its quarterly profitability, bringing net income to nearly 27 billion Taiwan dollars (843 million US dollars).

He said that was 18.5 per cent down from previous quarter but an improvement from a net loss of 5.1 billion Taiwan dollars (159 million US dollars) in 2007's first quarter. (dpa)