LG today announced its financial results for the second quarter of 2019 - that is, the three months ending on June 30, 2019. The firm saw sales worth 15.63 trillion won, or roughly $13.4 billion, a 4.1% increase from the same period last year, but profits were down 15.1% to 652.3 billion won ($559.4 million).
The biggest positive note for LG is in its home appliance business, which reported record sales of 6.1 trillion won ($5.23 billion), a 16.1% increase from last year. Profit was also record-breaking for the April-June timeframe, at 717.5 billion won ($615.3 million), and mostly driven by demand for products such as air conditioners.
The LG Vehicle Component Solutions Company also posted somewhat positive results, with 1.42 trillion won ($1.22 billion) in revenue, a 63% increase over the same period last year. The division still reported an operating loss of 55.8 billion won ($47.8 million) due to the cost of starting production of new projects, but LG expects to reduce costs in the coming quarters.
The LG Business Solutions Company reported growth as well, with 675.5 billion won ($579.29 million) in revenue, which is 14.8% higher than the same period last year and 8% higher than the previous quarter. Operating income also increased by 49% year-on-year and 4.7% from the previous quarter, hitting 58.1 billion won ($49.82 million). LG attributes the positive results to increased demand for OLED displays and cost reduction.
On the negative side of things, LG"s mobile division continues to decline, with products such as the LG G8 ThinQ failing to turn things around. The company reported a 21.3% decrease in revenue compared to last year, at 1.61 trillion won ($1.38 billion), citing stagnant demand and aggressive pricing by Chinese companies as the main reasons for this. The firm also saw an operating loss of 313 billion won ($268.4 million) thanks to higher marketing investment and additional costs of moving production to Vietnam. LG expects the demand for 5G to result in better results in future quarters.
Finally, the LG Home Entertainment Company saw its revenue decrease by 4.5% to 3.67 trillion won ($3.15 billion), with the company noting that events like the soccer World Cup that took place last year had helped drive stronger sales in this time period in regions such as Latin America and Europe. Operating income reached 205.6 billion won ($176.3 million), which is lower than the previous quarter, but LG expects stronger performance in the next quarter.