LG Electronics on the 28th released a shareholder return plan to inject an additional 200 billion won over the next two years.
LG Electronics said it will decide the method and timing of the shareholder returns later through the board of directors and will further communicate with the market. It also explained that it will cancel all remaining treasury shares currently held (1,749 common shares, 4,693 preferred shares) after approval at next year's general meeting of shareholders. Before this disclosure, LG Electronics had completed the cancellation of 761,000 treasury shares acquired within the range of distributable income in line with the previously released shareholder return plan.
LG Electronics also disclosed the status of execution of the financial indicators that were presented as mid- to long-term targets in last year's plan to enhance corporate value. LG Electronics' cumulative sales for the third quarter were 65.3 trillion won, up 0.5% from the same period a year earlier, while the operating margin was 4.0%, down 1.1 percentage points from the same period a year earlier. The financial structure showed significant improvement through rigorous management strengthening and working capital efficiency. As of the end of the third quarter, return on equity (ROE) was 8.3%, up 6.5 percentage points from the end of last year. The liability ratio and borrowing fund ratio fell by 10 percentage points and 8 percentage points, respectively.
It then introduced results in the "qualitative growth" area that it is strategically fostering to structurally improve the companywide business portfolio. Vehicle components, heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) and other business-to-business (B2B) areas, and software areas such as the webOS platform in direct-to-consumer (D2C) are included. As of the end of the third quarter, the qualitative growth area accounts for 45% of companywide sales and 91% of operating profit.