LG Electronics 2Q

from WSJ:

>>LG Electronics Inc. (066570.SE) said Wednesday its second-quarter net profit fell 33% from a year earlier as many of its key businesses, including cell phones and flat-screen televisions, suffered from a slowdown in key European export markets.

LG saw its cellphone division deliver disappointing results in the second quarter. Although the company sold more handsets, it had to slash prices to boost sales, resulting in the division posting an operating loss margin of 3.5%, compared with a 0.9% profit margin in the first quarter.

During the second quarter, the company sold 30.6 million handsets, up from 27.1 million units in the first quarter.

Competition in the smartphone space has been intensifying as LG's rivals, including Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co., gain more ground. Although analysts expect the results to pick up from the third quarter onwards, they note that LG's handset business may not record a turnaround until the fourth quarter when the company is slated to roll out new smartphones running on Google Inc.'s Android operating system.

At LG's home entertainment division, which makes flat-screen TVs and plasma display panels, operating profit fell to KRW28.1 billion in the second quarter from KRW267.8 billion a year earlier. Sales rose 19% to KRW5.361 trillion from KRW4.504 trillion.