SEOUL-- LG Uplus Corp., South Korea's third-largest mobile carrier, said its first-quarter net profit slumped 15.2 percent from a year earlier due to decreased profits related to handset sales.
LG Uplus logged a net profit of 170.4 billion won (US$132.2 million) on a consolidated basis in the three months ending in March, compared with 200.9 billion a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.
Operating profit fell 5.2 percent on-year to 261.2 billion won, and sales slid 0.2 percent to 3.41 trillion won.
The earnings fell behind market expectations. The average estimate of net profit by analysts stood at 187.6 billion won, according to the survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Agency.
The company said the net loss is blamed on decreased margins related to handset sales due to delays in new flagship smartphones. LG said its quarterly sales related to handsets dropped 12.3 percent from a year earlier.
Sales in other business divisions, however, showed improvements. Sales in LG's mobile business inched up 1.3 percent to 1.52 trillion won, with the number of its mobile subscribers climbing 8.8 percent to 18.47 million.
The company's smart home business also saw its sales rise 9.7 percent to 581.6 billion won thanks to the increase in IPTV and high-speed internet subscriptions.
Source: Yonhap News Agency