Home entertainment declines.
LG Electronics has announced consolidated sales of KRW 14.92 trillion (A$18 billion) and operating profit of KRW 900.6 billion (A$1.1 billion) for the first quarter of 2019.
Despite the decline in revenue and income, the home appliance division reported the highest quarterly revenue and operating income for the business in LG history.
Sales were especially strong in Europe and Asia, contributing to growth of 11% year-on-year and 26% quarter-on-quarter on robust sales of premium and growth products especially in the domestic Korean market.
The increase in operating profit of more than 30% from the same period last year also can be attributed to the growing popularity of high-growth products such as styler, clothes dryers, air purifiers and vacuum cleaners as well as effective cost reduction efforts.
The home entertainment division experienced a 3% decline in profit year-on-year due to seasonal weakness in demand and lack of global sporting events. Operating income increased significantly from the previous quarter thanks to greater marketing efficiencies and improvement cost structure. The launch of new 2019 premium products including OLED TVs, NanoCell TVs and large-screen Ultra HD TVs is expected to generate additional sales opportunities in Q2.
LG continues to rebuild its smartphone business and the improvement in operating results from the previous quarter was a result of a stronger business structure. Looking ahead, the launch of LG V50 5G smartphone is expected to create positive momentum in Q2 while the relocation of LG’s smartphone manufacturing centre from Pyeongtaek, Korea to Haiphong, Vietnam will help improve profitability and LG’s global competitiveness in the second half.