LG Electronics' Q2 profit more than doubles on home appliance sales

LG Electronics, South Korean tech giant, saw its second-quarter operating profit more than double compared with a year earlier thanks to strong sales of home appliances and TVs, the company said on Thursday.

Consolidated operating profit was 584.6 billion won (520 million U.S. dollars) in the April-June period, up 139.5 percent from 244.1 billion won tallied in the same period of last year. It marked the largest in two years. Operating margin recorded 4.2 percent, the highest in about seven years.

Revenue rose 0.6 percent over the year to 14 trillion won in the second quarter, and net income increased 18.6 percent to 268.5 billion won.

Businesses in TVs and home appliances posted record profits in the second quarter, leading the overall profit growth. But smartphone business remained in the red on rising marketing costs.

The H&A division, which produces refrigerators, washing machines and air conditioners, registered a record-high operating profit of 433.7 billion won on a 4.7 trillion-won revenue.

The operating profit jumped 48.6 percent, with revenue growing 4.8 percent on demand for premium washing machines and fridges embedded with water purifier as well as business-to-business system air conditioners.

The HE unit, which manufactures TVs, logged a 356.7 billion-won operating profit in the second quarter on a revere of 4.16 trillion won. The unit recorded a record-high operating margin of 8.6 percent on the back of premium TV sales such as OLED TVs and Ultra HD TVs.

The MC business, which makes smartphones, posted an operating loss of 153.5 billion won on revenue of 3.33 trillion won. Its flagship G5 smartphone sales failed to lead to higher profit due to initial troubles in supply and higher marketing costs.

The VC division in charge of producing components for electric vehicles and infotainment devices logged an operating loss of 16.8 billion won on revenue of 639.6 billion won. Endit