LG Report Highest Operating Income Since 2009
Following on from yesterday’s report about LG’s Display division raking in a record profit for the quarter, the rest of the LG conglomerate has posted a similarly-record breaking quarterly result.
The company says that its revenues for the first-quarter of 2017 rose 9.7% on the previous year to reach KRW 14.66 trillion (approximately $17.31 billion) while its operating income doubled to KRW 921.5 billion (approximately $1.09 billion).
More specifically, the Home Appliance & Air Solutions Company posting its highest quarterly operating income in eight years with sales rising 10%.
Meanwhile, LG Home Entertainment division recorded its highest first-quarter operating margin of 8.8% on sales of KRW 4.33 trillion (approximately $5.12 billion). LG credited the positive result to expanding sales of premium products, improved cost structure and the implementation of more flexible strategy to deal with the increase in panel prices.
As reported yesterday, LG’s Display division has reported a record quarterly profit of 1.03 trillion won (approximately $1.22 billion) for the January-March period, reflecting increased demand for the company’s high-end displays.
LG’s Vehicle Components Company also reported strong sales (approximately $759.2 million in USD), growing 48% on the previous year.
However, LG also advised that continued investments in R&D and growth are expected to continue to affect the division’s profitability this year.
Finally, LG’s Mobile division reported revenues of KRW 3.01 trillion (approximately $3.56 billion) and an increase of 4% quarter-over-quarter (2% year-over-year). They say this sales growth was “driven by the launch of the flagship LG G6 smartphone and new mass-tier models.”
ChannelNews reviewed the new LG G6 earlier this month.
LG reported smartphone shipments of 14.8 million units this quarter, up 10% from the previous year.
The company says that last year’s reorganization is “beginning to bear fruit, price competition in the mass-tier segment and competition from other flagship models are expected to increase this year.”