LG Electronics narrows handsets loss in Q2

LG Electronics Inc., the world's third-largest mobile phone makers, said Wednesday that its second-quarter operating profit rose 25 percent from one year earlier, as its newly released smartphones helped the company narrow losses in the mobile business.

Operating profit reached 158.2 billion won (US$150.9 million) in the April-June period, compared with an operating profit of

126.2 billion won a year earlier, it said in a regulatory filing.

The figure was in line with the market consensus of 158.4 billion won, according to analysts polled by Yonhap Infomax, the financial news arm of Yonhap News Agency.

Sales inched down 0.2 percent to 14.4 trillion won over the cited period while net profit plunged 87 percent to 108.4 billion won on losses in investment it made to electronics component-making affiliates. 

Shares of LG Electronics were trading at 83,800 won on the Seoul bourse as of 2:00 p.m., up 2.57 percent from the previous session's close.

Operating profit also rose from the previous year thanks to its new smartphone models, which helped narrow the loss in the mobile communications business, LG said.

The operating loss from the mobile division, one of LG's four business pillars, reached 54 billion won, about half of last year's losses of 119.6 billion won.

Since posting the dismal losses, the company reorganized its resources to focus on regular cell phones that have mass market appeal and high-end handsets to play catch up with Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co.

It rolled out the Optimus series of smartphones this year, including the latest Optimus 3D, which has a 3-D display screen for playing games and watching movies.

LG, which is the world's second-largest TV supplier, posted slightly higher profit from TV sales as the portion of premium TVs, such as 3-D TVs, increased.

A rise in raw material costs, however, trimmed profit in the home appliance sector, it added.

The company expects to post "modest growth" in the current quarter as it launches smartphones in additional countries. It is also scheduled to release its flagship 3-D TVs in the U.S. markets during the second half of this year.