(LEAD) LG Chem Q3 net jumps 73 pct on one-off gains

LG Chem Ltd., South Korea’s leading chemical firm, said Monday its third-quarter net profit jumped 73 percent from a year earlier, helped by one-off gains.

Net profit for the three months ended in September soared to 1.01 trillion won (US$729 million) from 585.04 billion won during the same period of last year, the company said in a regulatory filing.

“Some of the proceeds worth about 500 billion won from the sale of the non-core polarizing plate materials business in September were reflected in the quarterly bottom line,” a company spokesperson said.

The mainstay petrochemical division suffered an operating loss of 38 billion won due to an increase in raw material prices, logistics costs and the won’s strength against the dollar, the company said

Operating profit fell 42 percent to 498.36 billion won in the third quarter from 860.43 billion won a year ago. Sales declined 6 percent to 12.67 trillion won from 13.49 trillion won over the cited period.

From January to September, net income dropped 27 percen
t to 1.41 trillion won from 1.92 trillion won in the year-ago period.

Operating profit declined 49 percent to 1.17 trillion won in the first nine months from 2.28 trillion won a year ago. Sales were down 13 percent to 36.58 trillion won from 42.11 trillion won.

Source: Yonhap News Agency