LG Electronics reported a 13.5 percent year-on-year increase in third-quarter operating profit Wednesday, supported by improved television earnings and steady automotive electronics sales, while disclosing a fivefold increase in AI data center cooling orders during the first nine months of the year.
Operating profit reached 781.9 billion won ($583.9 million) in the July-September period, up from 688.9 billion won a year earlier. Revenue increased 8.9 percent to 23.82 trillion won, according to the company's finalized earnings.
Compared with the previous quarter, however, operating profit fell 50.5 percent from 1.58 trillion won, partly reflecting the absence of a one-off tariff refund that boosted second-quarter earnings.
For the first nine months, operating profit climbed 55.9 percent to 4.03 trillion won, exceeding the company's full-year 2025 profit of 2.48 trillion won.
All four main business divisions remained profitable, although their performances diverged.
LG's Vehicle Solution division earned 190.3 billion won in operating profit on revenue of 2.83 trillion won, both third-quarter records. Its operating margin reached 6.7 percent, supported by growing in-vehicle infotainment sales and deliveries under existing automotive contracts.
The television and media division generated 146.7 billion won in operating profit on revenue of 5.02 trillion won, benefiting from increased premium OLED TV sales and expansion in emerging markets.
Home appliances remained LG's largest division, with revenue of 7.04 trillion won and operating profit of 259.2 billion won. Its operating margin narrowed to 3.7 percent from nearly 10 percent in the previous quarter, when the business benefited from the tariff refund.
The most significant new disclosure concerned AI data center cooling. LG said cumulative orders exceeded 3 trillion won by the end of September, compared with roughly 600 billion won in the first half.
LG recently secured a long-term agreement to supply chillers for North American AI data center projects with a combined capacity exceeding 5 gigawatts, and is expanding manufacturing facilities to meet demand.
However, its Eco Solution division, which includes the cooling business, saw operating profit decline to 87.2 billion won from 236 billion won in the previous quarter. Its operating margin narrowed from 8.6 percent to 4 percent, partly due to increased spending on future growth.
mjh@heraldcorp.com
