LG beats Samsung in profitability of home appliances

SEOUL, Jan. 31 (Yonhap) -- LG Electronics Inc. was more profitable than Samsung Electronics Co. in the home appliance business in 2015 despite a huge gap in their overall revenue, industry data showed Sunday.

According to the data, LG's home entertainment and home appliance & air solution divisions chalked up an operating profit of 1.04 trillion won (US$830 million) on sales of 33.9 trillion won.

The company's operating margin, or the ratio of operating profit to sales, thus came to be 3.1 percent last year.

Samsung's consumer electronics segment posted an operating profit of 1.25 trillion won on revenue of 46.9 trillion won, but its operating margin stood at 2.7 percent.

Samsung's operating margin reached 3.3 percent in 2013, higher than LG's 3 percent. In 2014, however, LG's operating margin rose to 3.1 percent, while the number for Samsung fell to 2.4 percent.

LG's higher operating margin in the home appliance segment came as its sales were dwarfed by those of Samsung, the largest company in South Korea.

Samsung's overall sales came to 200.6 trillion won in 2015, up nearly 30 percent from 154.6 trillion won in 2010, while LG's revenue edged up to 56.5 trillion won from 55.7 trillion won according to the data.
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