LG’s financial reports follow somewhat the same guiding thread in the last period: the company as a whole is doing well, but the mobile division is at a loss. The fourth quarter of 2019 is no exception, as are the overall considerations. Throughout the year, LG Mobile lost nearly one billion dollars – precisely 858.34 million; however, the company reiterated its intention to continue operating in the sector during CES 2020 in Las Vegas, although it has admitted that it does not plan to return to generating profits before next year.
The quarter, we said, went very well, mainly driven by the household appliances division. The total turnover was 13.65 billion dollars, which is 1.8% more than in the same period of the previous year. Earnings were $ 86.5 million, also up sharply over the previous year (+ 34.5%). For the turnover of the whole year, the term “record” was also inconvenient, with 53 billion net, while with 2.07 billion, earnings fell by 10% compared to the previous year – due to marketing and research costs and development for future technologies, says the company.
Overall, the mobile division posted revenue of $ 5.07 billion, of which $ 1.12 billion in the fourth quarter. The turnover of this Q4 was therefore lower than that of last year, and according to LG it is the fault of the poor performance of mid-range smartphones. The relaunch strategy for 2020 is to present more medium-high end smartphones with 5G network technology and continue to reduce costs.
The year of the Home Entertainment division, which deals, among other things, with TV and audio, was like this: the turnover is practically stationary compared to 2018, while the net earnings have decreased (respectively we speak of 13.73 billion and $ 833 million). The turnover for the last quarter amounts to 3.9 billion, again stationary, and the net profit is 93.5 million, also due to an increase in marketing costs.
