LG Chem, South Korea’s largest chemicals company, said Wednesday its battery division has shown better-than-expected results in the first half of the year on robust demand for batteries for mobile devices.

The battery division posted 1.4 trillion won ($1.35 billion) in sales in the period, up 16.1 percent from a year ago, and 42.4 billion won in operating profit, growing more than tenfold.

On the back of the stellar performance, the company raised this year’s sales target in the battery division to about 3 trillion won, up 15 percent from 2.6 trillion won last year.

LG Chem said the rise is based mostly on increased sales of batteries for mobile devices like smartphones.

Market watchers saw LG Chem’s growth potential in its mid- and large-sized battery business. (Yonhap)