LG Electronics registers drop in profits as smartphone business bleeds money

LG Electronics Inc said on Thursday its third-quarter operating profit fell 3.7 percent from a year earlier, hit by sluggish sales in its money-losing smartphone business. LG said in a regulatory filing that the operating profit for the July-September quarter stood at 283.2 billion won ($250.9 million), compared with a profit of 293.9 billion won for the same quarter last year, Yonhap news agency reported.Compared to the previous quarter, LG's operating profit sank 51.6 percent. Revenue for the third quarter fell 5.7 percent on year to 13.2 trillion won, according to the filing. LG's mobile division posted an operating loss of 463.4 billion won for the third quarter, marking its sixth consecutive quarterly loss for its smartphone business. In a statement, LG attributed "lower sales of premium devices and expenses related to business structure improvement activities" to the third-quarter loss in its smartphone business."Priorities for the final quarter of the year will include increasing sales of the new LG V20 smartphone and mass-tier K and X series and finalizing business structural improvements in the mobile division to be better prepared for the challenges ahead," LG said. LG's home appliance division reported an operating profit of 342.8 billion won and its TV division posted an operating profit of 381.5 billion won.Reuters