LG Electronics Q1 Operating Profit Surpasses Samsung Electronics... "Significant Profitability Enhancement" (Update)

LG Electronics Q1 Preliminary Earnings Announcement
Operating Profit 1.4974 Trillion KRW

LG Electronics' operating profit surpassed Samsung Electronics for the first time in 14 years. Despite the global economic downturn, LG Electronics managed to record the third-highest quarterly operating profit.

On the 7th, LG Electronics announced its preliminary earnings, reporting a consolidated operating profit of 1.4974 trillion KRW for the first quarter. This represents a 22.9% decrease compared to the same period last year. During the same period, sales decreased by 2.6% to 20.4178 trillion KRW.

Although LG Electronics' performance declined due to the global economic downturn, it outperformed market expectations (consensus). The average first-quarter forecast by securities firms compiled by financial information provider FnGuide was sales of 20.754 trillion KRW and operating profit of 1.1149 trillion KRW.

Earlier, there were market forecasts that LG Electronics' first-quarter operating profit could exceed that of Samsung Electronics. In fact, Samsung Electronics announced a first-quarter operating profit of 600 billion KRW on the morning of the same day, a 95.75% decrease from the same period last year. This is the first time in 14 years that quarterly operating profit has fallen below the 1 trillion KRW mark. Sales during the same period were 63 trillion KRW, down 19%.

Unlike Samsung Electronics, whose performance sharply declined due to the semiconductor industry downturn, LG Electronics improved profitability through efforts such as easing logistics and raw material cost burdens, restructuring business operations, and proactive inventory adjustments. Since this announcement is preliminary, detailed performance by business segment was not disclosed, but securities analysts evaluated that major sectors such as Home Appliances & Air Solution (H&A Business Division), TV (HE Business Division), and Vehicle Components (VS Business Division) all achieved positive results.

LG Electronics stated, "Despite demand slowdown due to global economic uncertainties, company-wide efforts to fundamentally improve business structure and operational methods, such as the War Room task force, have materialized in business performance." They added, "Considering that last year's first-quarter operating profit included temporary patent income, profitability has significantly strengthened this year."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.