LG Electronics posts $142 million profit on smartphone sales

South Korean consumer electronics maker LG Electronics Inc. reported a third straight quarterly profit on Wednesday as it sold more smartphones that run on a faster wireless network.

LG Electronics said its net profit totaled 157 billion won ($142 million) for the three months ending Sept. 30, compared with a 414 billion won loss a year earlier. The result was better than expected and sent its shares up 2 percent in Seoul.

The company lost money in the last two quarters of 2011 before returning to profit in the first quarter of this year when the mobile communications division made a small profit.

The South Korean company, which competes with Samsung and Sony in the TV business, has been struggling due to its slow response to the fast growth of the smartphone market. In 2011, LG's mobile communications division posted a 281 billion won operating loss.

LG said its mobile phone business was profitable in the latest quarter after the red ink in the previous quarter.

The company credited demand for smartphones that run on faster "LTE" networks, which are taking off in South Korea, Japan and the United States. It sold 14.4 million mobile phones during the three months, with smartphone sales accounting for half of the volume.

LG reported a quarterly operating profit of 221 billion won compared with a 32 billion won operating loss a year earlier.

Sales fell 4 percent to 12.4 trillion won as LG sold fewer low-end cellphones and the weak economy pressured demand for TVs.