(LEAD) LG Energy Solution-2022 earnings
(LEAD) LG Energy Solution targets 30 pct sales growth in 2023
(ATTN: UPDATES throughout with more details; COMBINES article slugged 'LG Energy Solution-Q4 earnings'; ADDS byline)
By Kim Seung-yeon
SEOUL, Jan. 27 (Yonhap) -- LG Energy Solution Ltd. said Friday it set the revenue target of up to a 30 percent increase for 2023 from last year, as it posted record earnings last year on the back of solid growth in the global electric vehicle (EV) market.
The world's second-largest battery maker plans to increase capital expenditures by 50 percent this year from 2022, the company said in a regulatory filing, signaling the aggressive push for market expansion will continue.
For 2022, LGES' operating profit soared 58 percent to 1.2 trillion won (US$976.5 million), compared with 768.4 billion won the previous year.
Annual sales jumped 43 percent to 25.6 trillion won, outrunning the 22 trillion-won revenue target the battery maker had set for the year.
Robust demand from global automakers, the majority of which are pivoting to electrification, helped fuel the production and sales in EV batteries, LGES said.
LGES counts General Motors Co. and Hyundai Motor Co. as its clients, among other automakers.
In the fourth quarter of last year, LGES' operating income more than tripled to 237.4 billion won from a year earlier. Sales nearly doubled to 8.5 trillion won from 4.4 trillion won.
Compared with the previous three months, however, the operating profit declined 54.5 percent, due largely to one-off costs, such as incentives for employees and an inventory write-down.
The earnings results were released after the stock market opened.
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