LG Electronics marks record high profit since 2009

LG Electronics said Thursday it earned the greatest operating profit since 2009, owing to high sales of its premium home appliances.

The company posted 61.4 trillion won ($57.8 billion) in consolidated sales for fiscal year 2017, while recording 2.47 trillion won in operating profits.

It is the first time for the tech firm to exceed 60 trillion won in annual sales. 

Compared to the previous year, sales rose 10.9 percent, while the operating profit surged 84.5 percent, the figures showed.

LG’s Home Appliance & Air Solution unit reported its largest-ever sales of 19.2 trillion won and operating profits of 1.49 trillion won, owing to the company’s leadership in the global premium market, it said.

The Home Entertainment division also showed its best performance, posting 1.57 trillion won in operating profit on the rise of organic light-emitting diode TV products.

The company’s smartphone business posted a deficit of 717.2 billion won, which was narrowed by 500.9 billion won from the previous year.

“Due to price rises in smartphone parts and marketing costs for the V30 smartphone, the deficit continued until the fourth quarter,” the company explained.

LG plans to boost sales of premium OLED TVs taking advantage of the Olympics, expecting the TV business to continue its growth.

The smartphone business is likely to undergo a major restructuring, including some adjustments in product lineups this year, in order to improve profitability, the company said.

By Song Su-hyun (song@heraldcorp.com)