LG Says Q2 Profit Climbed 16 Percent on Strong TV Sales

South Korean consumer appliance maker LG Electronics said second-quarter profit jumped 16 percent, helped by strong television sales, but warned US trade spats with China and Europe cast a cloud on its business outlook.

The world's second-largest TV maker said in a statement on Thursday its April-June operating profit was KRW 771 billion ($688 million), in line with guidance issued earlier this month. Revenue rose 3 percent from a year ago to KRW 15 trillion.

But LG Electronics, which competes with appliance makers like US giant Whirlpool Corp, said it saw global trade disputes expanding in the third quarter, a trend that could hurt business. Whirlpool said this week the US tariffs would have an impact on material costs during the second half of 2018.

The Korean firm's TV division posted a 44 percent rise in profit to KRW 407 billion, with an operating margin of 10.6 percent, compared to KRW 282 billion a year ago. In the previous quarter it posted record profits of its TV business, due to robust sales of high profit-margin premium TVs.

Second-quarter operating profit for the appliances division stood at KRW 457 billion, only slightly up from KRW 449 billion a year ago.

Meanwhile, LG's serial loss-making smartphone business will not likely improve for the rest of year due to weak mobile demand globally, according to analysts. The mobile division reported a KRW 185 billion loss, extending the unit's losing stretch to five straight quarters.

© Thomson Reuters 2018