LG posts highest revenue to date in Q3 from strong home electronics demand

LG Electronics said on Thursday it posted almost 19 trillion won in revenue and 540.7 billion won in operating profit during the third quarter this year. Revenue jumped 22% from a year prior while operating profit dipped 49.6% over the same time period.

The South Korean electronics maker credited strong sales of its home appliances and TVs during the quarter for the growth in revenue.

However, the company will have to use 480 billion won to cover the cost of General Motors’ recent recall of its Bolt EV, the LG said.

There were multiple reports of the car model catching fire prior to the recall announcement, which the US car giant said was caused by faulty batteries. Battery maker LG Energy Solution, which has said it was also footing part of the recall cost, manufactured the batteries used in Bolt EV, while LG Electronics provided the separators used in those batteries.

Meanwhile, in terms of LG Electronics third-quarter earnings, its home appliance business again contributed the most in operating profit with 505.4 billion won.

The company said it saw double-digit growth in home appliance sales in North America, Europe, and Central and South America during the quarter. High interest in hygiene from the pandemic contributed to high sales of its steam appliances, LG said.

Its TV business contributed 208.3 billion won in operating profit. The South Korean electronics maker said OLED TV shipments doubled compared to a year prior and its premium TVs sold solidly during the quarter.

Looking ahead to the fourth quarter, LG said it expected competition to increase for home appliances while TV sales are expected to drop due to more consumers spending less time at home from pandemic-induced lockdown measures being eased.

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