April 26, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] LG Electronics said on Oct. 26 that it swung to the black in the third quarter from a year earlier helped by strong sales of home appliances, although it continued to lose money in the handset business.

Net profit came to 336 billion won (US$298 million) in the July-September period, compared to a net loss of 81.5 billion won posted a year earlier, LG said in a regulatory filing.

Operating profit came to 516 billion won, also up 82.2 percent from a year earlier, and sales advanced 15.1 percent to reach 15.2 trillion won.

The figures are in line with the guidance report released earlier this month.

The company said the home appliances & air solution division posted an operating profit of 423 billion won, sharply up 26.1 percent from a year earlier.

Its sales also advanced 16.4 percent on-year to reach 4.9 trillion won, the company added, citing expanded sales of air purifiers, clothes dryers and wireless vacuum cleaners. 

But despite strong sales from home appliances and TVs, LG posted an operating loss in the mobile division for the 10th consecutive quarter.

The mobile arm posted an operating loss of 375.3 billion won, due mainly to the rising production cost of smartphones and increased marketing costs.

The vehicle components arm posted an operating loss of 29 billion won as the company continued focusing on making investments, it added.

By Alex Lee and newswires (alexlee @heraldcorp.com)