[비즈한국] LG Electronics achieved record-breaking performance in the second quarter, driven by balanced growth across its core businesses, including home appliances, TVs, and automotive electronics.
On the 7th, LG Electronics announced preliminary consolidated results for the second quarter of this year, reporting revenue of 23.8297 trillion won and an operating profit of 1.5788 trillion won. Compared to the same period last year, revenue increased by 14.9% and operating profit by 146.9%, marking the highest figures for a second quarter in the company's history.
Looking at the cumulative results for the first half of the year, including the first quarter, the company recorded 47.5569 trillion won in revenue and 3.2525 trillion won in operating profit—up 9.4% and 71.3% year-on-year, respectively, setting a new record for a half-year period. The operating profit for the first half alone has already surpassed the company’s total annual operating profit from last year (2.4784 trillion won).
The performance significantly exceeded market expectations. Securities firms had forecasted revenue of 22.57 trillion won and an operating profit of 1.04 trillion won; however, the actual operating profit surpassed these estimates by 533.2 billion won, outperforming projections by approximately 51%. Revenue also exceeded the consensus by 1.2589 trillion won.
The growth in revenue was largely fueled by increased sales in core businesses like home appliances and TVs, supported by the company's strong position in the premium market. Air conditioner sales expanded in overseas markets during the seasonal peak, and the continued growth in the automotive electronics business helped offset concerns regarding external uncertainties, such as the situation in the Middle East.
The improvement in operating profit is also notable. It appears that the profit structure has strengthened due to the leverage effect from increased sales, combined with the growth of high-profit businesses such as webOS, subscriptions, and online sales. While costs related to voluntary retirement programs implemented in April were reflected, the company explained that it minimized the impact on profitability by strengthening cost competitiveness and operating under an enterprise-wide emergency management system. However, it was reported that some one-time gains were also included following the confirmed refund of tariffs paid on U.S. exports last year.
By business division, Home Appliance & Air Solution (H&A) maintained its growth momentum through a two-track strategy that targets both premium and volume-zone markets. The company is also expanding its B2B presence, including commercial laundry and built-in appliances. Media Entertainment (HE) is credited with maintaining an improvement trend by prioritizing new premium TV products like OLED evo and Micro RGB, while also focusing on inventory health and cost efficiency.
The Vehicle component Solutions (VS) business is increasingly establishing itself as a new cash cow in the B2B sector, responding to demand for premium infotainment based on a robust order backlog. The Air Solution (ES) business showed growth fueled by increased sales in overseas markets, such as Europe, which experienced record heatwaves, and is currently expanding investments in cooling solutions for AI data centers.
Projections suggest that in the second half of the year, contributions from new businesses, including parts solutions such as robot actuators and AI data center cooling, will begin to materialize in earnest. These preliminary results are estimates based on K-IFRS (Korean International Financial Reporting Standards). LG Electronics plans to announce its net profit and detailed results for each business division during an earnings call at the end of this month.