LG Chem has posted its best quarterly performance ever in the third quarter of 2020.
It posted operating profits of 902.1 billion won and sales of 7.57 trillion won in the quarter, the company said.
It beats South Korean analysts’ expectations of around 730 billion won.
Operating profit rose 57.8% from the previous quarter and sales 8.2%.
It is an increase of 158.7% and 8.8%, respectively, year over year.
Operating profit was the highest in 38 quarters. Back in the first quarter of 2011, LG Chem posted operating profits of 831.3 billion won. Its previous record sales was the fourth quarter of 2019 when it posted 7.45 trillion won.
LG Chem’s petrochemical business saw an operating margin rate of 20.1% and contributed 721.6 billion won in operating income.
The business saw high demand for ABS, PVC and NBL, while cost of raw materials remained weak to expand the spread.
The battery business saw operating profits of 168.8 billion won and record sales of 3.14 trillion won.
This was thanks to high demand from European car makers who are launching new electric car models. The business also saw demand rise from IT.
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the company increased operation efficiency starting in the year and stabilized its cash flow, LG Chem said. It also continued to invest for the future, which helped the performance, the company said.
Profits and sales are expected to continue to increasing going forward, LG Chem added.
The advanced material business meanwhile saw an operating profit of 59 billion won. The life science business saw operating profits of 8.5 billion won. Subsidiary Farm Hannong posted an operating loss of 9.6 billion won.
