LG Electronics reported fourth-quarter sales of KRW 13.81 trillion, down 6.0 percent from a year earlier but up 7.1 percent from the third quarter. The Mobile Communications division led the annual drop in sales, falling 17.9 percent from a year earlier to KRW 2.775 trillion. However, the mobile division had a sharp turnaround in operating profit, moving to a positive KRW 12 billion from a loss of KRW 261 billion a year ago. This helped the total operating result at LG improve to a profit of KRW 23 billion from a loss of KRW 246 billion a year ago. The company's net loss narrowed to KRW 112 billion from KRW 433 billion. LG said it shipped 17.7 million phones in the quarter, down in units from 21.1 million in the previous quarter but up in revenues thanks to a higher proportion of smartphones in the mix. Sales of premium phones like the Optimus LTE and cost reductions led to the improved operating result. LG said it expects the market to increasingly focus on LTE devices to drive market share. In 2012, the company plans to focus on its strategic markets, including smartphones and LTE, to further improve profitability and sales in the handset business. As a group LG targets revenues of KRW 57.6 trillion in 2012, up from KRW 54.3 trillion in 2011. Capex is planned at KRW 1.6 trillion (USD 1.5 billion), while R&D spending will reach KRW 2.6 trillion this year.
