LG Household & Health Care (LG H&H) earned a 28.4 billion won ($20.6 million) profit for the fourth quarter of 2008.

LG H&H, an affiliate of the Korean LG Group, said today that profit for the October-December quarter surged 56 percent from the same period of the previous year. The Korean consumer goods and cosmetics company also reported that consolidated sales rose 13.5 percent to 478.6 billion won ($348 million) and net profit soared 73.4 percent compared with the year-ago period. These figures include the performances of its overseas subsidiaries and the Coca-Cola Beverage Company.

It was the 16th straight quarter of year-over-year gains in operating profit and the 14th in sales for LG H&H. In particular, the company had seen an increasingly rapid rise in earnings since its acquisition of the beverage company at the end of 2007.

For the year 2008, LG H&H reported sales of 1,967.7 billion won ($1.4 billion) and operating profit of 182.6 billion won ($132.8 million), up 15.2 percent and 55.4 percent, respectively, from the year before. The consumer products company is targeting sales of 2 trillion won ($1.45 billion) and operating profit of 200 billion won ($145.4 million) for this year. Continued innovation and robust growth of core brands were the main profit driver, the company said.

Annual Performance by Division

⊂ Household Products:

Despite price pressure caused by soaring raw materials costs and the dollar’s gains against the won, sales and operating profit at the household products division gained 9.7 percent and 8.6 percent to reach 826 billion won ($600 million) and 80 billion won ($58.1 million), respectively, boosted by a steady growth in sales of high-end products. Both the premium sanitary napkin brand Body Fit and the environmentally friendly bath and body care brand Beyond saw a 41 percent year-on-year increase in sales, driving the growth of the household products division.

⊂ Cosmetics:

In 2008, sales surged 23.4 percent from the previous year to 534.1 billion won ($388.4 million) and operating profit soared 39.6 percent to reach 73.5 billion won ($53.4 million). The cosmetics division showed a stronger performance last year as prestige lines O HUI and Whoo along with the newly launched SU:M saw a steady growth in sales and mass-market brands including ISA KNOX and ShooRyeHan successfully edged into the premium sector.

⊂ Beverage:

The beverage division saw a 15.9 percent rise in sales from 2007 to 535 billion won ($389 million) and returned to profitability after four years of losses, posting a 37.8 billion won ($27.4 million) operating profit. The major contributor to the division’s turnaround was the 19 percent rise in sales of Coca-Cola―the flagship brand of the beverage division―and other carbonated drinks combined with the 25 percent growth of key non-carbonated drinks such as POWERADE and Minute Maid.

This year, LG H&H aims to ramp up its sales by more than 10 percent and operating profit by at least 20 percent by adopting a “shock-proof” business model and pursuing comprehensive innovation.