LG Electronics targets $77 billion sales by 2030, holds high hopes for vehicle components

By Joyce Lee and Soo-hyang Choi

SEOUL (Reuters) -LG Electronics said on Wednesday it is targeting 100 trillion won ($77 billion) in sales by 2030 and plans some 50 trillion won of investment as the South Korean company announced its future strategy.

It plans to become a global top 10 company in vehicle components by more than doubling revenue to 20 trillion won by 2030, while strengthening service platforms on its home appliance and TV businesses that generate recurring profits, such as media subscriptions and rentals.

“LG Electronics will tranform its business portfolio… increase profits by growing in business-to-business, and transition to a service business,” CEO William Cho told a press conference.

“We will not rest on our past success in home appliances.”

LG also plans to enter new markets such as electric vehicle charging and digital healthcare.

To achieve its goals, LG said it will actively consider inorganic growth such as joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions.

LG said it aims for an operating profit margin of 7% by 2030.

In 2022, LG reported about 65 trillion won in consolidated sales excluding affiliate LG Innotek, which makes device components such as camera modules for smartphones.

LG said it expects the order backlog of its fast-growing Vehicle component Solutions, the company’s newest business division, to approach 100 trillion won by end-year, with those revenues spread over many years.

That would be up from more than 80 trillion won ($61.72 billion) as of end-March, according to an eBest Investment & Securities report on Monday.

Vehicle component Solutions, which also makes infotainment systems and lamps, turned to profit last year and reported a 2.4 trillion won in sales in the January-March quarter.

On Friday, LG Electronics estimated its second-quarter operating profit rose 12.7% from a year earlier to 892.7 billion won, its second-largest April-June quarter profit ever.

The only time LG announced a higher second-quarter profit was in 2021.

($1 = 1,292.1700 won)

(Reporting by Hyunsu Yim, Soo-hyang Choi and Joyce LeeEditing by Ed Davies & Simon Cameron-Moore)

tagreuters.com2023binary_LYNXMPEJ6B00S-VIEWIMAGE