LG Electronics reports another sales record

LG Electronics' headquarters in Yeouido, western Seoul (LG Electronics)

LG Electronics reported another year of record sales in 2023, driven by upbeat sales of home appliances and automotive parts and solutions, the Korean tech giant said in its earnings conference Thursday.

The company posted all-time high annual sales of 84.2 trillion won ($62.9 billion) last year, up 0.9 percent from the year before. This is the third consecutive year the company has achieved record-breaking sales figures.

Despite the global economic downturn and decreased demand, LG Electronics' solid home appliances and automotive parts businesses attributed to its record revenue, the company said.

The company's full-year operating profit came to 3.5 trillion won, down 0.1 percent from a year prior.

The company said it would further strengthen its competitiveness in the home appliance market, vowing to expand spending in a bid to widen the gap with Chinese businesses.

“As the brand power of Chinese firms is growing and competition in the home appliance market intensifies, we’ll beef up our premium product lineups and expand our original design manufacturer business,” an LG Electronics official said during the company’s earnings conference.

The official also offered a rosy growth outlook for this year, citing company-wide efforts to elevate profitability across business divisions.

Meanwhile, the combined sales of LG’s two leading business divisions, which accounted for 47.8 percent of the company's consolidated earnings, rose 18 trillion won from eight years ago, to 40 trillion won in 2023.

LG's other business-to-business sector and platform-based service business, including air solutions businesses and a content subscription service, also attributed to the strong earnings, the company said.

The company's home appliance business recorded positive growth for eight years in a row, with yearly sales of 30.1 trillion won last year.

LG's promising vehicle components business also posted record sales and operating profit of 10.1 trillion won and 133.4 billion won, respectively.

In the fourth quarter alone, the company's operating profits jumped 351.8 percent on-year to reach 313.1 billion won on a consolidated basis.

The figure was much lower than the consensus of 649.5 billion won projected by local analysts, provided by market intelligence firm FnGuide.

The company's net losses reached 76.4 billion won, narrowing from a deficit of 212.4 billion won the previous year, while sales rose 5.7 percent on-year to 23.1 trillion won.

Despite the solid annual earnings announcement, LG's shares added 0.11 percent from the previous session's close and ended trading at 94,000 won on Thursday.

By Jie Ye-eun(yeeun@heraldcorp.com)