(Yicai Global) Dec. 31 -- Huadong Electronics Information & Technology is devaluing its liquid-crystal display panel production lines by CNY5.7 billion (USD808 million) as market saturation drives down the prices of LCD panels.

The Nanjing-based firm invested CNY28.9 billion in the facilities, which produce thin-film-transistor LCDs, colored filters and integrated LCD modules, it said in a statement yesterday. It started building the lines in 2013, began trial production in March 2015 and reached design capacity in November 2016, but believes excess supplies will hamper the display sector over the next three years.

The price of LCD panels have been in rapid decline recently, with the price of a 55 inch panel shrinking to just USD101 in October 2019, down from USD146 in December 2018. The 30 percent decline has resulted in a "severe" loss for the company, according to the statement.

Shares in Huadong [SHE:000727] opened 7.8 percent lower but have slightly rebounded since, sitting at CNY2.09 (30 US cents), a 3.7 percent decline, as of 10.19 a.m.

Editor: James Boynton