LG Electronics has exceeded 70 trillion won in cumulative third-quarter revenue and 4 trillion won in operating profit for the first time this year. LG Electronics said on Tuesday it posted provisional third-quarter revenue of 23.827 trillion won and operating profit of 781.8 billion won. Revenue rose 8.9 percent from a year earlier and operating profit increased 13.5 percent.

It delivered results in its core businesses despite an unfavourable environment, including war in the Middle East. The company said revenue rose as growth in the global south, a region with strong growth potential, and its B2B business added to performance.

Higher logistics and material costs and rising fixed costs weighed on profitability, but the company said it offset the pressure through companywide cost-structure improvements and operating leverage from higher revenue.

The home appliance and vehicle components businesses served as cash cows in B2C and B2B areas, respectively. The TV business also improved profitability from a year earlier.

Cumulative third-quarter revenue rose to 71.381 trillion won, topping 70 trillion won for the first time. Cumulative operating profit rose 55.9 percent to above 4 trillion won for the first time. Revenue and operating profit each quarter this year rose sharply from a year earlier.

The company said it plans to link profits to room for investment in new businesses. It is upgrading domestic and overseas production bases and expanding production capacity to meet demand for AI data centre cooling solutions. In robotics, it is building the country's largest data factory in Yangjae, Seoul, and is also establishing mass-production infrastructure in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, for actuators, a key robot component.

The home appliance (HS) business posted higher revenue as its two-track strategy spanning premium and volume segments was combined with appliance subscriptions, online expansion and growth in B2B. It said the business also maintained its profit structure through more efficient manufacturing and logistics.

The media and entertainment (MS) business grew from a year earlier as sales of premium products such as OLED increased and revenue expanded in emerging markets. It maintained a profit-making trend as the webOS platform business grew and spending on competitive costs became more efficient.

The vehicle solution (VS) business grew steadily as its order backlog turned into revenue. The share of premium sales for in-vehicle infotainment also increased.

The eco solution (ES) business kept revenue at the year-earlier level as sales increased in overseas markets. Profitability fell slightly due to efforts to secure new production capacity and hire staff for new businesses.

The company plans to disclose third-quarter consolidated net profit and performance by business division at an earnings briefing at the end of this month.