LG Electronics Inc has announced its first quarter earnings results for 2009, demonstrating impressive results overall on a global basis but the parent company along with the mobile phones division saw operating profits fall.
In terms of global results sales at LG rose almost 15 per cent to 12.853 trillion won year-on-year and operating profit jumped to 455.6 billion won, resulting in a margin of 3.5 per cent, 2.8 per cent higher than the previous quarter.
Excluding overseas subsidiaries, sales rose 2.1 per cent to 7.074 trillion won, but operating profit fell a dramatic 23 per cent to 437.2 billion won.
One area which saw a remarkable improvement was LCD televisions, which saw a year-on-year sales growth of 36 per cent to 4.3 trillion won. Shipments also increased from last year, up 40 per cent to 3,538,000 units.
LG is expecting this growth rate to slow down quarter-on-quarter, but the company is forecasting growth in emerging markets where LCD penetration is still low. This uptake is expected to increase overall market demand slightly in terms of units.
One area that didn’t do as well was the mobile phone division, which saw a 12 per cent quarter-on-quarter shipment decline to 22.6 million units, a 7 per cent decrease from the same period last year.
LG is expecting that unit demand for mobile phones will continue to decrease due to the continuous recession around the globe; it is forecasting a 10 per cent decline year-on-year to 260 million units.
Despite these results LG are very confident in its prospects for the second quarter, “With the start of the high season for air conditioners and the introduction of new products in major categories, the company expects to expand over 10 per cent quarter-on-quarter,” LG said.