LG Electronics swings to loss in Q4 on weaker demand

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SEOUL, Jan. 22 (Yonhap) -- LG Electronics Inc., South Korea's No. 2 electronics
company, said Thursday it swung to a loss in the fourth quarter of 2008 due to
slower sales of flat screen televisions and mobile phones.

Net losses amounted to 671 billion won (US$489 million) in the October-December
period, compared with a 621 billion won profit a year earlier, the company said
in a regulatory filing.
Sales increased 12.2 percent to 6.59 trillion won, but the company's operating
balance fell to a 309 billion won loss from a 154 billion won profit a year
earlier, it said.
Shares of LG Electronics closed at 72,500 won on the Seoul bourse, down 3.72
percent. The fourth-quarter result, the first net loss in seven quarters, was
released before the market closed.
"In addition to weak demand for mobile phones and TV sets, a weaker won against
the U.S. dollar increased the burden on foreign currency-denominated debts," said
an official at LG Electronics.
For the full year of 2008, LG Electronics posted a profit of 483 billion won, a
61-percent drop from a year earlier. Sales gained 18 percent to a record 27.64
trillion won and operating income more than doubled to a new high of 1.23
trillion won, it said.
LG Electronics painted a gloomy outlook for this year, saying that sales will
remain sluggish due to weak demand and severe competition.
ygkim@yna.co.kr
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