LG Electronics announced that it had swung back from a loss during the first quarter last year thanks to strong handset sales. LG posted first quarter net profit of $427.9 million, while sales rose 17 percent after shipping a record 24.4 million handsets worldwide.
"The U.S. subprime-mortgage problem has affected our global business to a certain extent. Our U.S. sales, in particular, sequentially fell 2 percent in the first quarter," Chief Financial Officer Do Hyun-jung told analysts. "But with continued growth in Europe, Asia and the Middle East, we expect to post better results than a year ago or maintain at least the same level," he said.
For more on LG's first quarter:
- read this WSJ article (sub. req.)