By Kwanwoo Jun


LG Electronics expects its first-quarter operating profit to slide 11% from a year earlier, as it wrestles with a slow recovery in demand for home appliances.

The South Korean consumer-electronics giant said in a preliminary earnings forecast Friday that its operating profit could come in at 1.333 trillion won ($986.2 million) for the January-March quarter, compared with a profit of KRW1.497 trillion in the same period a year earlier.

Still, the earnings forecast beat a FactSet-compiled consensus estimate of KRW1.278 trillion.

Revenue is expected to have risen 3.3% year-over-year to KRW21.096 trillion for the March quarter, it said, which was below the FactSet-compiled consensus forecast.

LG Electronics didn't provide additional details. It is due to release its full quarterly earnings later this month.

Analysts say demand for LG home appliances and other electronics goods is improving but at a slower-than-expected pace. Rising logistics costs amid geopolitical tensions in the Middle East are also weighing on the company's profit margins, they say.


Write to Kwanwoo Jun at kwanwoo.jun@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

04-04-24 2255ET