LG Display, the display-making unit of LG Group, said Wednesday its net profit plunged 99.8 percent in the first quarter, but managed to stay in the black, beating expectations.

Net profits tumbled to 1.1 billion won ($1.02 million) in the first three months of this year, compared to 475.7 billion won a year ago.

The company managed to maintain a surplus despite analyst estimates of 100.3 billion won in deficit.

Operating income fell 94.7 percent to 39.5 billion won from the same period last year. Sales were also down 14.7 percent to 5.98 trillion won.

Despite seasonal weak demand and panel price cuts, the company said it could continue to see profitability thanks to premium, more lucrative products.

The company said it will reduce 30-inch or smaller panel production, while focusing more on 40-inch and 60-inch TV panels to restore profits.

The company also showed commitment to its organic light-emitting diode, or OLED business, which is still losing money.

“We will continue to expand OLED production in phases and create new value,” said Kim Sang-dong, the company’s chief financial officer, during a conference call.

The company aims to ship about 1 million OLED panels this year.

“As demand grows, we are increasing production capacity to improve marketability,” he said. “We will produce a monthly 20,000 panels in the second quarter next year.”

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)