Seoul, Apr 27 (IANS): LG Electronics on Thursday said its operating profit for the January-March period declined 23 per cent from a year earlier amid the on-going macroeconomic woes that dampened consumer demand.

The South Korean tech company posted a first-quarter operating profit of 1.49 trillion won ($1.1 billion), down 22.9 per cent from a year earlier but 20.6 per cent higher than the average estimate by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Agency.

Sales decreased 2.6 per cent to 20.41 trillion won. Net profit came to 546.5 billion won, down 61 per cent from a year earlier.

LG's quarterly operating profit has actually risen from a year ago, considering the 80 billion-won one-off gains from patent licenses that the tech firm made in the first quarter of last year.

Stabilising material costs and steady sales of high-end home appliances helped the firm achieve the relatively solid earnings results.

LG has said the company's efforts, such as reducing shipping costs and restructuring its business portfolio, to "preemptively" deal with slowing demand amid economic uncertainties helped it navigate various challenges.

LG's TV business made a turnaround in the first three months of the year, after making losses for the past three consecutive quarters, thanks to improving TV demand in the European market, LG's biggest OLED TV market, and decreasing inventory levels and marketing costs.

According to market research firm Display Supply Chain Consultants (DSCC), premium TV shipments are estimated to have fallen 14 per cent from a year ago in the first quarter, but they are expected to begin increasing in the second quarter.

LG's home appliance business logged an operating profit of 1.18 trillion won, its record high for a first quarter.

Its vehicle components business, one of LG Electronics' future growth drivers, gained ground with 2.3 trillion won in sales and 54 billion won in profit.