SEOUL– LG Household & Health Care Ltd., a major South Korean cosmetics and household goods maker, said Thursday its second-quarter net profit fell 44.3 percent from a year earlier due to worldwide inflation and global challenges caused by the pandemic and the Ukrainian war.
The cosmetics arm of LG Group posted a net profit of 126 billion won (US$96.9 million) in the April-June period, compared with 226.4 billion won during the same period last year.
Operating profit came at 216.6 billion won, down 35.5 percent from the second quarter last year. Sales fell 7.9 percent on-year to 1.86 trillion won in the cited period.
“The company’s second quarter operations suffered a heavy setback after China tightened its COVID-19 lockdowns in March, which restricted people’s movements, closed operations at our retail stores and limited movement of logistics,” the company explained in a statement.
“The prolonged war in Ukraine led to a rise in raw material prices and pushed consumer prices, eventually hindering growth in our sales and operating profits.”
LG’s cosmetic business suffered large losses, with operating profit dropping on-year by 57.4 percent to 93 billion won from China’s COVID-19 lockdowns.
The company’s home and daily beauty care unit showed modest performance, driven by improved product mix and sales increase of its premium products, the company said. Its operating profit inched up 1.4 percent to 59.6 billion won.
Source: Yonhap News Agency