LG Electronics' operating profit rises in Q4 on brisk sales

LG Electronics, the world's No. 3 smartphone maker, saw its operating profit for the fourth quarter of 2013 rise from three months earlier due to brisk sales of smarpthones and home appliances, the company said on Monday. Operating profit gained 9.3 percent from three months earlier to 238.1 billion won (220 million U.S. dollars) in the three months ending Dec. 31, according to the regulatory filing. Revenue increased 7.4 percent to 14.92 trillion won over the cited period, but the company logged a net loss of 63.45 billion won in the quarter from a net profit of 108.55 billion won in the prior quarter. For the full year of 2013, the company logged an operating profit of 1.28 trillion won on revenue of 58.14 trillion won. Net profit more than doubled to 222.7 billion won from a year earlier. The South Korean major consumer electronics giant has set its 2014 revenue target at 62.3 trillion won, while promising to spend 3 trillion won in facility investment.