LG profit falls as smartphone sales remain poor

LG Electronics’ operating profit dropped 3.7 percent from a year ago, but the company’s losses were mitigated as the home appliances and entertainment businesses performed well in the third quarter.

LG Electronics said its profit was 283.2 billion won ($252.7 million) compared to 294 billion won a year ago. Revenue dropped 5.7 percent compared to the previous year.

Operating profit plummeted 51.6 percent from 584.6 billion won recorded in the second quarter.

LG’s unprofitable mobile division continues to struggle. Revenue for LG’s mobile communication sector declined 23 percent from a year ago to 2.5 trillion won due to lower sales of premium devices overseas. The company said the division had quarterly losses of 436.4 billion won.

LG’s home entertainment sector, on the other hand, reported the highest operating profit in its history. It rose 3 percent year on year to 381.5 billion won.

“Sales of premium LG OLED and Ultra HD TVs continued to gain traction in key markets around the world,” the company said in a statement.

LG said sales of its home appliance and air solution sector grew 3 percent compared to a year ago with its strongest performance coming from European and Asian markets.

BY KIM YOUNG-NAM [kim.youngnam@joongang.co.kr]