Seoul: LG Household and Health Care Co. (LG H and H) announced on Monday an 8.5 percent decrease in its net profit for the first quarter, attributing the decline to reduced cosmetics sales. The company's net income for the January-March period amounted to 103.5 billion won (US$71.6 million), a drop from 113.1 billion won in the same period the previous year, as per the company's regulatory filing.
According to Yonhap News Agency, despite the year-on-year decline, the earnings surpassed market expectations. Analysts, as surveyed by Yonhap Infomax, had anticipated an average net profit of 87 billion won. LG H and H reported an operating profit of 142.4 billion won, marking a 5.7 percent decrease from a year ago, with revenue also declining by 1.8 percent to 1.69 trillion won.
The company attributed the decline in net profit to a reduction in sales of its flagship cosmetics during the first quarter. Specifically, cosmetics sales dropped by 3.4 percent on-year to 708.1 billion won, while operating income from cosmetics fell by 11.2 percent to 58.9 billion won.
On a positive note, LG H and H's sales from overseas markets increased by 4.2 percent from the previous year, reaching 536 billion won. In contrast, domestic sales witnessed a 4.3 percent decline on-year, totaling 1.16 trillion won.