LG Innotek (011070.KS) posted quarterly revenue of more than 6 trillion won for the first time in the third quarter, driven by expanded shipments of camera modules and semiconductor package substrates. Operating profit fell, however, as the won strengthened against the dollar.
The company said on the 27th that preliminary third-quarter revenue came to 6.37 trillion won ($4.4 billion) on a consolidated basis, with operating profit of 94.8 billion won. Analysts surveyed over the past month had expected revenue of 5.89 trillion won and operating profit of 94.8 billion won.
Revenue rose 18.6% from a year earlier, while operating profit dropped 53.4%. The operating margin narrowed to 1.5% from 3.8% a year earlier.
LG Innotek attributed the profit decline to the currency's move between the time it bought raw materials and the time it shipped finished products. The company bought materials when the exchange rate was relatively high and shipped goods after the won had strengthened, leaving costs elevated relative to revenue converted into won.
By business, revenue at the optical solutions unit rose 20.6% from a year earlier to 5.4 trillion won, helped by increased supplies of camera modules for new customer models including Apple's iPhone 18. Revenue at the package solutions unit rose 10.1% to 481.8 billion won, and the mobility solutions unit rose 6.8% to 481.1 billion won.
"In optical solutions, we plan to improve profitability through production automation and in-house development of key components," an LG Innotek official said. "In package solutions, we will upgrade our portfolio around high-value products such as flip-chip ball grid array (FC-BGA) substrates for global customers' PC central processing units."