SEOUL, Oct. 26 (Xinhua) -- South Korean tech behemoth LG Electronics posted an operating loss in its smartphone business for 10 straight quarters though it logged a double-digit increase in overall profit, a regulatory filing showed Thursday.
Consolidated operating profit jumped 82.2 percent from a year earlier to 516.1 billion won (458 million U.S. dollars) in the July-September quarter.
Revenue gained 15.1 percent to 15.22 trillion won in the cited period, marking the biggest among any third-quarter figure in the company's history. Net income reached 336.1 billion won in the quarter, turning around from net loss.
Despite the overall profit gain, the mobile communications division, which makes smartphones, posted an operating loss of 375.3 billion won on revenue of 2.81 trillion won.
LG's global smartphone sales reached 137 million units in the September quarter, up 3 percent from three months earlier.
Helped by the sales growth, the smarthphone-making division's revenue increased 7.9 percent from a year earlier, but the operating loss continued since the second quarter of 2015 due to increased marketing costs.
The downbeat smartphone business was offset by brisk sales of LG-made home appliances.
LG's TV-producing unit registered an operating profit of 458 billion won on revenue of 4.64 trillion won, hitting the largest ever recorded by the division.
The division, which manufactures air conditioners, washing machine and refrigerators, logged an operating profit of 424.9 billion won on revenue of 4.98 trillion won. It was the biggest among any third-quarter figure recorded by the company.
The unit, which makes electronic car parts, posted an operating loss of 29 billion won on revenue of 873.4 billion won.
