LG Household & Health Care 2021 net rises 5.9 percent

LG Household & Health Care logo [LG HOUSEHOLD & HEALTH CARE]

LG Household & Health Care's net profit rose 5.9 percent in 2021 to 861.1 billion won ($751.9 million) on revenue of 8.09 trillion won, up 3.1 percent.

Sales at its cosmetics division, which has The History of Whoo, O Hui and belief brands, declined 0.4 percent to 4.4 trillion won. Operating profit rose 6.5 percent to 876.1 billion won.

Sales in the refreshment division, licensed to sell Coca-Cola and Seagram products, rose 5.2 percent to 1.59 trillion won, and operating profit rose 6.2 percent to 204.7 billion won.

Home care and daily beauty division sales rose 9.9 percent to 2.58 trillion won. Operating profit rose 1.7 percent on year to 208.9 billion won. The division sells sells laundry detergents and toothpastes.

The company said raw material prices are rising and it is facing a supply shortage due to a fire at an aluminum factory but the popularity of the new low-sugar drinks helped sales.

In the fourth quarter, net profit fell 4.3 percent on year to 136.4 billion won on revenue of 2.23 trillion won, down 3.4 percent on year.

On Jan. 10, multiple analysts published reports saying that LG Household & Health Care will report lower-than-expected results in the fourth quarter, and the shares fell 13.41 percent to 956,000 won that day.

Korea Exchange is currently investigating if the company disclosed the information to the analysts.

The company said in a regulatory filing it "did not provide guidance on fourth quarter earnings, but notified analysts covering the company that duty free channels hardly generated any sales in December due to pricing policies."

Share of LG Household & Health Care fell 1.15 percent to 948,000 won on Thursday.

BY LEE TAE-HEE [lee.taehee2@joongang.co.kr]