MOSCOW (MRC) -- LG Chem (Seoul), South Korea's leading chemicals firm, reported an 89.2% increase in fourth-quarter net profits citing improved petrochemical margins amid low oil prices, said Koreaherald.
Net profit reached 207.04 billion South Korean won (USD171.9 million) in the October-December period on 6.2% lower sales of won5.04 trillion. Operating profit advanced 52.0% to won352 billion. In the whole of 2015, LG Chem achieved net profit of won1.15 trillion, up 34.5% on 2014, on 10.5% lower sales of won20.21 trillion. Operating profit was 39.1% higher at won1.82 trillion.
The firm attributed the increase in operating profit to the "the strong spread of basic chemical materials and the differentiated product portfolios of each business company."
In the fourth quarter of 2015, the firm earned 5.04 trillion won in sales, down 6.2 percent compared to the previous year, and 352 billion won in operating profit, up 52 percent on-year.
In the year 2015, the basic materials and chemicals business pulled in 14.63 trillion won in sales, down 15.2 percent on-year, and 1.68 trillion won in operating profit, up 50.1 percent compared to 2014.
The electronic IT and materials business earned 2.76 trillion won, down 1.7 percent on-year, with its operating profit sitting at 146 billion won, up 8.9 percent from a year earlier.
The battery business of the firm saw its operating profit plunged 99.2 percent year on year to 500 million won while its sales saw a 10.4 percent increase at 150.3 billion won compared with the year before.
The LG Group affiliate has set the sales target of the next year at 21.7 trillion won, up 7.3 percent from this year and plans to increase its capital expenditure by 3.3 percent on-year to 1.78 trillion won.
As MRC informed earlier, LG Chem has completed the acquisition of Dongbu Farm Hannong, the country’s largest agricultural products provider. Following a series of negotiations since September 2015, LG Chem has finally acquired 100% equity stake in Dongbu Farm Hannong’s shares worth USD426.49 million (KRW 515.20 billion).
LG Chem Ltd., often referred to as LG Chemical, is the largest Korean chemical company and is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. According to ICIS report, it is 15th biggest chemical company in the world in 2011. It has eight domestic factories and global network of 29 business locations in 15 countries. LG Chem is a manufacturer, supplier, and exporter of petrochemical goods, IT&E Materials and Energy Solutions.MRC