LG Electronics is set to report a surge in profit and year-on-year sales in its Q1 2017 results, the company said in a preliminary earnings statement.

The South Korean manufacturer, which produces a wide range of consumer electronics, forecast a 9.7 per cent year-on-year increase in sales for the January to March period, with profit growth of 82.4 per cent compared with Q1 2016.

Sales across its business were estimated to reach KRW14.7 trillion ($12.9 billion) with profit of KRW921.5 billion for the quarter.

Details on the performance of LG’s individual divisions are unavailable until it announces its final report on the quarter. However, during 2016 its mobile communications division accounted for 23 per cent of the company’s sales.

Last year its largest business units by value of sales were its home entertainment and home appliance divisions, which each contributed around a third of total sales revenue.

Financial analysts interviewed by Reuters said LG’s Q1 boost was likely due to healthy sales of appliances and televisions.

Great expectations
LG’s Q1 results will come too early to count the impact of its latest flagship smartphone, the G6, which was unveiled at Mobile World Congress in February and is now being distributed to retailers in its key markets.

The company said this week reaction to the new flagship had been positive. In a statement, LG’s mobile unit president Juno Cho said the reception of its new device had “already exceeded expectation”. By contrast, its previous flagship, the G5 failed to gain significant traction with buyers.

LG’s 2016 financial report said the introduction of new mass market mobile devices and a new flagship in Q2, were expected to “greatly improve the LG Mobile Communications market position in 2017.”