LG Electronics announced that its operating profit for the fourth quarter of last year on a consolidated basis was 65.5 billion won, a 91.2% decrease from the same period last year (745.3 billion won).



In the aftermath of the global economic downturn and contraction in demand, our flagship businesses, such as TVs and home appliances, suffered overall sluggish performance, which shocked us.



Yonhap Infomax's operating profit estimate (consensus) of securities companies was 79.5% lower than the result (319.3 billion won).



Korea Investment & Securities (288.1 billion won) and KB Securities (324 billion won) also fell far below the forecasts.



Even compared to the previous quarter (746.6 billion won), operating profit in the fourth quarter plunged 91.2%.



It is the first time in four years since the fourth quarter of 2018 (75.7 billion won) that LG Electronics' quarterly operating profit fell below 100 billion won.



However, sales in the fourth quarter of last year were KRW 21.8597 trillion, up 5.2% from the same period last year (KRW 20.7 trillion), recording the highest quarterly sales ever.



Nevertheless, the plunge in operating profit can be attributed to a combination of factors such as rising raw material prices, increased logistics and marketing costs, and a sharp drop in the won/dollar exchange rate in the fourth quarter, resulting in a sharp deterioration in profitability.



Last year, LG Electronics recorded sales of 83.4695 trillion won, breaking the previous record for 2021 (73.9 trillion won).



It is the first time that annual sales have exceeded 80 trillion won.



Last year's annual operating profit was KRW 3,547.2 billion, down 12.6% from the previous year (KRW 4 trillion).