LG’s chemicals arm records modest 2023 profits in Vietnam

LG Chem, Ltd, the chemicals arm of South Korean chaebol LG, reported modest profits from its subsidiaries in Vietnam in 2023, according to the firm’s consolidated financial statements.

LG Chem Vietnam Co., Ltd, which is in charge of sales and trading activities in Vietnam, recorded a profit of KRW142 million ($103,692) on revenue of KRW1,221 million in 2023. The figures were up 49% and 15.4% year-on-year, respectively.

LG Chem Hai Phong Engineering Plastics LLC, the engineering plastics (EP) manufacturing and sales unit, reported revenue of KRW45,023 million ($32.9 million) in 2023, up 23.4% year-on-year. Meanwhile, its profit rose six-fold to KRW6,279 million ($4.59 million) from KRW1,023 in 2022.

LG Chem Hai Phong Vietnam Co., Ltd., the polarizer manufacturing and sales business, booked a profit of KRW713 million ($520,651) in 2023, or half of that in 2022. LG Chem did not provide further information as “polarizer and related material business was classified as discontinued operations and profit or loss from the business was included in profit from discontinued operations.”

In September 2023, LG Chem reportedly sold its polarizer businesses to Chinese partners for over $800 million.

Besides, LG Chem said in 2023, its subsidiary LG Energy Solution disposed 100% ownership interest of VinFast Lithium Battery Pack LLC. According to the latest data from LG Chem, as of end-2022, the South Korean side held 29% of the controlling interest of electric vehicle maker VinFast's battery manufacturing and sales business.

While VinFast Lithium Battery Pack LLC was an associate of LG Chem in 2022, the former incurred a loss of KRW3,809 million ($2.8 million) on a revenue of KRW11,072 million.

As of April, LG’s investment in Hai Phong city had amounted to $8.24 billion. Starting with $1.5 billion in 2013, the investment includes $7.24 billion conducted by LG itself, featuring LG Electronics, LG Display, LG Innotek, LG CNS, LG Chemical, and LG International; and $1 billion conducted by 50 of its affiliates.

LG Display Vietnam Haiphong Company, under LG Display, reported a net income of KRW159.1 billion ($114.9 million) in Vietnam in 2023. The figure was up 41.8% year-on-year, according to LG Display’s performance review for 2023. Last year, LG Display Vietnam Haiphong recorded sales of KRW2,773 billion ($2 billion), up 3.8% year-on-year.

Meanwhile, LG Innotek Vietnam Hai Phong made a revenue of KRW5,763.7 billion ($4.2 billion), up 32.6% year-on-year, with post-tax profit of KRW228.7 billion ($166.9 million), up 56.6%.

LG Electronics Vietnam Hai Phong made a post-tax profit of KRW150.3 billion ($109.7 million) on a revenue of KRW5,133.3 billion, down 14.8% but up 14.5% year-on-year, respectively.