LG Electronics’ Q2 operating profit jumps 16%

LG Electronics said Friday that its second-quarter operating profit advanced 16.1 percent from a year earlier, led by stable sales of TVs and home appliances.

Its operating profit came to 771 billion won ($691 million) in the April-June period, compared to the 664 billion won it posted in the same period a year earlier, LG Electronics said in its earnings guidance report.

Sales rose 3.2 percent over the cited period to reach 15 trillion won.

The operating profit fell shy of the market’s estimate of 8.4 trillion won suggested by 17 brokerage houses compiled by Yonhap Infomax, the financial arm of Yonhap News Agency.

LG did not offer performance and net profit estimate reports for each business division. The company will deliver its finalized earnings report later this month.

Operating profit slid by 30.4 percent from January-March of 2018.

Industry watchers said the on-quarter decline apparently came on increased marketing expenditures, along with sluggish sales of smartphones.

LG, however, said it was the first time that the company posted sales above 30 trillion won over the January-June period.

In the first six months of 2018, LG raked in 30.1 trillion won in sales, along with a record 1.87 trillion won in operating profits.

Analysts said that strong sales of home appliances and TVs were apparently the driving force behind the record-breaking earnings for the first half of the year.

The home entertainment business posted an operating profit-to-sales ratio of 14 percent in the first quarter, and the company is expected to have maintained a 10-percent level for the April-June period.

Rising seasonal demand is also estimated to have contributed to the performance of the home appliances division, they added.

Yonhap