■ Third quarter sales reached 256.9 billion won, operating profit 20.5 billion won, and net income achieve 17.0 billion won.

■ Sales are on an upswing and operating profit growth has been achieved in three consecutive quarters.

▣ As regards third quarter business performance, LG H&H announced that it achieved 256.9 billion won in sales, 20.5 billion won in operating profit and 17.0 billion won in current net income. Compared to the same period in the previous year, its sales, operating profit and current net income have increased by 4.1%, 25% and 40.7%, respectively.

▣ Sales have been on an upswing year-to-year after 11 quarters. The company’s operating profit has grown three consecutive quarters this year on a year-to-year basis.

▣ Its cumulative three-quarter sales and operating profit amount to 753.4 billion won and 60.6 billon won, respectively. Compared to the same period in the previous year, cumulative sales have dropped 1.7% while cumulative operating profit has increased by 17.7%.

▣ LG H&H explained that sales declined slightly until the first half of this year due to streamlining and reorganization efforts in overseas business activities and brands overall, but have turned around in the third quarter thanks to continuous improvement in premium products sales.

▣ The operating profit is primarily attributable to improved profitability. By focusing on six core product groups (toothpaste, shampoo, soap, laundry/dishwashing detergents, fabric softeners) in the household goods sector and premium products such as OHUI and WHOO in the cosmetics sector, their share of sales have increased 3% and 52%, respectively, compared to the same period in the previous year.

▣ By business sector, quarterly sales in the household goods sector, which were primarily driven by strong sales in new premium products, increased compared to the same period in the previous year for the first time in seven quarters.

▣ In the cosmetic sector, the 2.8 billion won deficit in the same period of the previous year has been turned around to produce a surplus of 3.0 billion won in the third quarter of the current year. This is mainly attributable to a sharp reduction in the number of brands and sales efforts focusing on premium brands such as OHUI and WHOO. As a result, sales of these brands have increased by 76.7% compared to the same period of the previous year.

▣ Accordingly, their rank in the department store channel is third place today, up from seventh place at the end of last year. The share of these brands in the direct-selling channel has also soared and served as an opportunity to lay a solid foundation for the future growth of the company’s cosmetics business.

▣ LG H&H attached significance to the fact that profitability is improving despite restructuring costs incurred by the divestiture of inefficient businesses (e.g. unprofitable overseas businesses and hairdressing/beauty salons) this year and forecasted a more promising business outlook..