LG Electronics’ OP tops $3bn in January-September

LG Electronics Inc. posted 4.03 trillion won ($3 billion) in operating profit in the first nine months of the year, up 55.9 percent from a year earlier, as its home appliance, vehicle component, and TV businesses delivered broad-based growth.

The company said Wednesday that third-quarter revenue rose 8.9 percent to 23.82 trillion won, while operating profit increased 13.5 percent to 781.9 billion won. Nine-month revenue climbed 9.2 percent to 71.38 trillion won.

The increase in operating profit reflected improved performance in the TV business, which struggled last year, as sales of premium products, including organic light-emitting diode (OLED) TVs, rose. All four business divisions remained profitable in the third quarter.

The Home Solution (HS) division, which handles home appliances and components for robots, posted third-quarter revenue of 7.04 trillion won and operating profit of 259.2 billion won.

The Media Entertainment Solution (MS) division, which makes TVs, laptops and monitors, recorded revenue of 5.02 trillion won and operating profit of 146.7 billion won.

The Vehicle Solution (VS) division reported revenue of 2.83 trillion won and operating profit of 190.3 billion won, while the Eco Solution (ES) division, which provides cooling solutions and other products, posted revenue of 2.17 trillion won and operating profit of 87.2 billion won. The VS division had the highest operating margin among the four, at 6.7 percent.

LG Electronics also said cumulative orders for its artificial intelligence data center (AIDC) cooling solutions exceeded 3 trillion won in the first nine months of the year. Orders totaled about 600 billion won in the first half and rose by more than 2.4 trillion won in the third quarter alone.

The company is expanding production capacity for cooling solutions through an additional 220 billion won investment in Korea and overseas, including plans to establish a production base in the United States.

AIDC cooling solution orders typically take seven to 9 months to translate into revenue, meaning orders secured this year are expected to contribute more substantially to results next year.

The HS division is also preparing production infrastructure for actuators, which serve as the muscles of robots, and pursuing orders from potential global customers.

In the fourth quarter, LG Electronics plans to continue growing its business-to-business (B2B), subscription and online sales while diversifying its supply chain and improving operational efficiency. The company also plans to cancel all 730,000 shares it repurchased this year during the fourth quarter, as scheduled.