LG Electronics' Q3 2024 Operating Profit Falls 20.9% to 751.1 Billion Won on Increased Costs as Sales Rise 10.7%
South Korean electronics and home-appliance maker LG Electronics Inc. closed the third quarter of 2024 with an operating profit of 751.1 billion won (US$556.9 million), down 20.9 percent year on year, as the preliminary report attributed the decline to increased costs. Sales moved in the opposite direction, rising 10.7 percent year on year to 22.17 trillion won. The operating result also landed 22.5 percent below the average analyst estimate compiled by Yonhap Infomax, and net earnings were not available at the preliminary reporting stage.
Q3 2024 in numbers
SEOUL, October 8, 2024 — LG Electronics Inc., the electronics and home-appliance manufacturer headquartered in South Korea, has reported its preliminary results for the third quarter of 2024. The report was carried by Yonhap News Agency, whose article is available at https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20241008004100320. Corporate announcements and investor materials of the company are published on its website at https://www.lge.com/.
The key reported figures for the third quarter of 2024 are as follows:
- operating profit — 751.1 billion won (US$556.9 million), down 20.9 percent year on year;
- sales — 22.17 trillion won, up 10.7 percent year on year;
- net earnings — not available at the preliminary reporting stage.
Of the three lines, the direction of the two disclosed figures frames the quarter: the top line expanded at a double-digit pace while the operating line contracted by about a fifth against the same period of the previous year.
Increased costs behind the profit decline
The 20.9 percent year-on-year decline of the operating profit is attributed to increased costs, according to the preliminary report carried by Yonhap News Agency. This combination is the defining feature of the quarter: sales grew 10.7 percent to 22.17 trillion won, yet the operating result fell to 751.1 billion won, which means the cost base grew faster than the revenue base over the same comparison period.
Preliminary figures and the later final release
The figures of October 8, 2024 were a preliminary set. In its later final release the company reported consolidated third-quarter revenue of 22.18 trillion won and an operating profit of 751.9 billion won, consistent with the preliminary numbers: the revenue line moved from 22.17 to 22.18 trillion won and the operating line from 751.1 to 751.9 billion won. The small revisions did not change the picture of the quarter — growth on the top line, a decline on the operating line — and the final set confirms the preliminary one rather than replacing it with a different story.
Net earnings remained unavailable at the preliminary stage, so the assessment of the quarter rests on the two disclosed lines: the sales figure, which grew, and the operating figure, which fell. The final release kept both lines close to their preliminary values, which limits the scope for a different reading of the quarter after the fact.
Below the analyst consensus
The operating result of 751.1 billion won came in 22.5 percent below the average analyst estimate compiled by Yonhap Infomax and cited in the report. A miss of that size against the consensus, combined with the 20.9 percent year-on-year decline, places the quarter below both market expectations and the company's own prior-year comparison. The sales growth of 10.7 percent to 22.17 trillion won softens the picture on the revenue side but does not offset the shortfall on the operating line, which is the figure the consensus measured.
Company information
Company: LG Electronics Inc.
Contacts: LG Electronics corporate communications, Seoul; media enquiries via https://www.lge.com/
Company website: https://www.lge.com/
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