Seoul, South Korea — Growing sales of mobile handsets and flat-panel televisions helped LG Electronics post second quarter consolidated sales of $5.2 billion, a record quarterly high, which was 29 percent above the $4 billion reported in the year-ago period.
Exports accounted for $4 billion of the three month total figure, up 31 percent from the same quarter in 2003.
Consolidated operating profit in the second quarter hit $339.8 million, up 50.7 percent from $225.5 million the previous year, while net income reached $424.9 million, topping the $229.9 million recorded in the same period a year ago.
Sales in LG’s handset business segment grew 73.1 percent year-over-year in the second quarter, climbing to $1.8 billion. Operating profit for the segment rose to $120.4 million, with an operating margin of 6.6 percent.
Sales of handsets, alone, jumped 86.7 percent, reaching $1.7 billion in the second three months, with unit growth rising 89 percent year-over-year to 9.94 million cellphones. Sales expansion in North America accounted for a second quarter unit increase of 42 percent for CDMA handsets and 262 percent for GSM phones.
During the second quarter LG realized a gain of $271.5 million from its 50 percent share of LG.Philips LCD, which helped boost the company’s consolidated profit line.
Sales from LG’s digital display and media segment, which makes digital TV sets and optical storage devices, climbed 9.9 in the second quarter, compared with last year’s three months, hitting $1.8 billion. Operating profit for the segment reached $86 million, with a 4.7 percent operating margin.
Sales of digital TVs were up 42 percent in the quarter, year-on-year, with PDP types soaring by more than 200 percent. Sales of LCD monitors continued to grow, with market share reaching more than 80 percent of total monitor sales, according to LG.
In the company’s major appliance segment, which accounts for about one-third of overall sales, second quarter revenue increased 8 percent to $1.5 billion. Exports rose 13 percent, with premium products leading overall growth.
Strong sales of premium products also led to margin improvement year-over-year in all LG’s businesses, said the company. First half net profit reached $928.2 million, well above the $570.3 million recorded in the first six months of last year.
Looking ahead, LG expects second half sales to increase more than 20 percent from the $8.9 billion recorded a year earlier. For the 12 months, sales are expected to hit more than $20.6 billion.
