LG reports buoyant sales and profits

LG Electronics has reported strong growth in revenues and operating profits across most divisions in the third quarter of the year, although flat-screen TVs continued to lose money.

Worldwide sales leapt 11.8 per cent to $10.68bn compared to the same period in 2006, a company spokesman said yesterday.

Despite narrowing margins in some sectors, overall operating profits still showed an increase, rising 3.6 per cent to $390m.

LG's global handset sales set a new record of 21.9 million units in the quarter as lower priced mobile phones sold strongly in emerging markets.

"Operating profit margins reached 8.4 per cent at a stable level over last year," LG said in a financial release yesterday.

LG's mobile communications subsidiary sold $2.84bn worth of mobile phones during the quarter.

The company saw substantial revenue growth at its loss-making digital displays division, where sales of LCD and plasma TVs were up 20 per cent compared to the previous quarter.

Further growth is expected in the fourth quarter in 40in-plus flat-panel TVs and full HD resolution models. The display unit reduced losses to $31m during the quarter.

Strong worldwide notebook PC sales helped boost sales almost 10 per cent year on year at LG's Digital Media Division, which is responsible for PCs, notebooks and related products.

LG predicts a slowdown in US sales for its home appliance division during the last quarter of the year following unsettled consumer economics data from the US.