Seoul, South Korea ― LG Electronics posted a first-quarter net profit of $86.6 million, a 319 percent increase compared with the same period last year.
Operating profit for the quarter was $471.47 million, a significant improvement from the previous quarter attributed to improved profitability from the company’s home entertainment unit.
Unaudited first-quarter consolidated revenues of $13.35 billion increased 1.2 percent compared with the year-ago quarter.
LG’s home entertainment division reported first-quarter revenues of $4.63 billion, a 3 percent increase from the first quarter a year ago. Operating profit of $224.79 million exceeded expectations, the company said, due to stronger sales of large-panel TVs and better cost structure resulting from declining material prices.
With an operating loss of $8.7 million for the quarter, LG’s mobile communications division reported increased revenues of $3.19 billion, a 6 percent increase year on year, and the company said operating profit margins rose quarter on quarter.
LG shipped 12.3 million smartphones in the first quarter ― comprising 75 percent of all phones shipped ― an increase of 19 percent from the same period the previous year. LG’s shipment of 5 million LTE smartphones was the most ever in a single quarter, an increase of 79 percent year over year, accounting for 41 percent of all smartphone shipments in the quarter, compared with 27 percent for all of 2013.
The company said it expects higher revenues in the second quarter with the release of the flagship LG G3 smartphone and a wider global rollout of it mass-tier L Series III smartphone.
LG’s home appliance division posted strong sales in the Korean market, but first-quarter revenue $2.54 billion was lower year over year, attributed to greater competition in North America and unfavorable foreign currency exchange movement in developing markets. Improved cost structure resulted in first-quarter operating profit of $102.15 million and a profit margin of 4 percent.
Finally, LG’s air conditioning and energy solution unit reported strong sales of commercial air conditioners in overseas markets with revenues $1.14 billion in the first quarter and operating profit of $84 million, an increase of nearly 10 percent from the same period last year.
